Remembering Dawson College

This week people gathered at Dawson College and remembered the one who'd died and those who'd been injured by a troubled gunman one year ago. Violence is part of our world. Our reaction to it varies only in relation to the perceived validation of the violence and its close proximity to our own lives. Why is it that we're angered, frustrated, and saddened when someone picks up a weapon and commits a violent crime here in Canada and kills "innocent" people, yet when we politically sanction violence on a grand scale few of us have any qualms with those actions? I'm not anti military, far from it. I once and sometimes still do, flirt with the idea of entering our armed forces. What I'm challenging is societies sense of the validity of certain types of violence. Scripture tells us "blessed are the peacemakers," "don't walk one mile, walk two," and "if you have two shirts give the extra one and the one you're wearing." All three teachings a rooted in a radical otherness that is rooted in a love which calls us beyond our insipid individualism and into a interconnected web of relationships. A web where we realise just how connected our actions are and how what I say and do affects others. Violence is not to be condoned. Any violent actions that seeks to subjugate another individual to the will of another is unsupportable. I find it increasingly difficult to articulate an argument for justifiable violence. Can violence ever be justifiable? That's the question that the Dawson College memorial brings to mind. What if the shooter hadn't committed suicide? Would we, nice Canadians that we are, have called for his life? Would a debate of a death penalty surfaced? Would we claim that because of the pain and anguish he'd caused that his death would be justifiable? Would we have demanded our pound of flesh? Or, would we hear the words of the gospel – treat others as you would like them to treat you – make peace – seek to understand the individuality of others? I paused on September 13^th and prayed for the families who morn, the people who were injured, the community that was damaged, and those who have found ways of moving on. They need our support. They need our prayers. As for violence, I continue to struggle with its place in our society and our world. I continue to struggle with our legitimating of it when its suits our cultural norms and I continue to pray.