Orlando and other acts of violence

Discusses the shootings in Orlando and is based on Genesis 19 which is referenced in Luke 9:51-62.

Alton Sterling. Philando Castile. The shooting of police officers in Dallas. All are manifestations of the sin of disregard. Disregard is no small moment of oversight. No unintentional act of overlooking. No mere happenstance of “I just didn’t notice.” Because, disregard, oversight, overlooking, passing by? As last week’s story of the Good Samaritan proved, is no lapse of judgment. No mere misunderstanding. No mistake in assessment. It leads to the reality of a noncommittal, no big deal, he didn’t mean it, acceptance. It leads to complacency even compliance. We become immune to that which should cause outrage. We give in to saying, “well, that’s the way it is.” We accept that the world around us is the world we should accept.

I read a story that shows the hope of comfort, even if it hasn’t yet come. The grandmother of Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, one of those killed at Pulse in Orlando, was flown on a Jetblue flight to that city for his funeral. A flight attendant thought it would be nice to get signatures of willing passengers on a piece of paper expressing condolences, and started circulating a page at the back of the plane. Attendants whispered to passengers what was going on. Soon another piece of paper was needed. Then another. And another. When the flight was over, many pages were handed to the grandmother. Fellow passengers had written paragraphs of comfort, love, and hope.