Open Season

Hi, there

Below is a poem written in the wake of the recent Sandy Hook school shooting. I have never had to bury my own child, yet, I have witnessed my parents having to bury a child(my sibling), so I know first hand how parents are tormented having to prepare for something that they are not, and never can be, prepared for. It is for this reason that I would not want to take away the only comfort that a parent in this tragedy might have, and in this case, that is to believe that their child has not really died, but lives on in a "hereafter". 

Here is the poem, by author Cameo Smith.....

 Twas' 11 days before Christmas, around 9:38

when 20 beautiful children stormed through heaven's gate.
Their smiles were contagious, their laughter filled the air.
They could hardly believe all the beauty they saw there.

They were filled with such joy, they didn't know what to say.
They remembered nothing of what had happened earlier that day.
"Where are we?" asked a little girl, as quiet as a mouse.
"This is heaven." declared a small boy. "We're spending Christmas at God's house."

When what to their wondering eyes did appear,
But Jesus, their savior, the children gathered near.
He looked at them and smiled, and they smiled just the same.
Then He opened His arms and He called them by name.

And in that moment was joy, that only heaven can bring:
Those children all flew into the arms of their King,
And as they lingered in the warmth of His embrace,
One small girl turned and looked at Jesus' face.

And as if He could read all the questions she had,
He gently whispered to her, "I'll take care of mom and dad."
Then He looked down on earth, the world far below,
He saw all of the hurt, the sorrow, and woe,

Then He closed His eyes and He outstretched His hand,
"Let My power and presence re-enter this land!
May this country be delivered from the hands of fools
I'm taking back my nation. I'm taking back my schools!"

Then He and the children stood up without a sound.
"Come now my children, let me show you around."
Excitement filled the space, some skipped and some ran.
All displaying enthusiasm that only a small child can.

And I heard Him proclaim as He walked out of sight,
"In the midst of this darkness, I AM STILL THE LIGHT."

Notice that the author goes one step further than merely assuring the parents and other believers that the deceased children live on in a land of pure, unadulterated bliss, AKA, "heaven". Yes, he goes further and makes it political, attributing such statements as, "I'm taking back my nation. I'm taking back my schools!", to the god he worships, in this case, the Christian god. The implication, of course, is that we mean atheists/secularists have driven their "God" out of school and out of our nation, yadda, yadda, and this is the reason for tragedies such as Sandy Hook and other mass shootings. This, I contend, is malarkey on many levels.  

Bottom line, when the author tries to combine politics with his religion, his religious beliefs then become open season as far as I'm concerned. Does it suck when certain people's only source of comfort gets caught in the crossfire? Yes, it does, but that's the cost of the religious trying to force their spiritual beliefs into public affairs. You see, if believers can get themselves to actually believe that their deceased children can be happily skipping around and filled with "joy" after having been ripped away from everything they've ever known...e.g..their parents, their siblings, their home, their friends, their toys, their family pets, etc., that's fine by me; they should believe it to their heart's content. However, the minute that they say something so stupid, so insulting, and something so demonstrably false as the reason for these types of shootings is because "God" is missing(or "not welcomed"), all bets are off. Yes, the notion that a belief in "God" precludes "evil", is demonstrably false. A few examples that affirm this would be "Hitler"(Catholic), and the numerous churches where "God" is most certainly invited, and yet, kids are molested right in "His (supposed) House". And what does "God" do? Nothing. 'Coincidence?

 Perhaps it's time we start investigating other ways to find comfort when we lose loved ones, that is, if we can't keep what gives us comfort out of political affairs.