To the Editor:

A few days after Judge Richard Posner of Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issues the opinion that we have a constitutional right to bear loaded firearms in public, a lunatic in Connecticut kills 20 children and six educators in a quiet hamlet, much like Danville or Amo.

What was missing at Sandy Hook Elementary was a loaded weapon to combat the semi automatic fire of the lunatic. We have a right to bear loaded arms. With our children, the right becomes a duty, really.

For too long we have told our children being beaten they should not fight. Look at the ineptitude of our schools grappling with bullying. Same principle here.

Sincerely,

Greg Black

Danville

To the Editor:

On Dec. 14, 2102, in Newtown, Conn., at Sandy Hook Elementary, nearly 20 kindergarden children were randomly shot to death in their classroom. Due to the age of the victims, this will and should be considered an epic tragedy and will no doubt leave more questions than answers. There is, however, one topic that I would like to address which immediately surfaced on Fox News, "Why would a loving God let this happen and where is God in all of this?"

This is such a crucial question and my fear is that it will be answered without much thought or compassion or that the question itself will be asked rhetorically as evidence that there is no God or that He isn't as good and loving as you say He is. Many people will claim that this is God's judgement for taking Him out of schools or that He works in mysterious ways and we will never know.

Let me start off with a very important statement; God did not tell me why this happened, why He allowed it to happen and why He did not stop it from happening. Because of that, I cannot answer those questions for Him. I know people are going to throw out scriptures that say why God allows this to happen, however the scriptures do not mention this specific tragedy and why He allowed this one.

What I am willing to address, with complete confidence, is how the loving God of the Bible fits with these unspeakable tragedies. First of all, will anyone ask "where was the Profit Muhammad or Allah, where was Buddha, or to the atheist, where was man or science when this happened?" I don't think we will ask those same questions of the other faiths and though to some extent, it is not fair, I actually believe it is much more fair than us Christians give it credit. Christians always get upset because it is our God that gets questioned in these tragedies, but really, shouldn't it. Have we forgot that we Christians proclaim a faith that is fundamentally different than all other religions in the world based on one critical point, JESUS, God is with us!

The one thing that Christianity hinges upon, that is unlike any other religion is that God loves the world so much that the eternal living God of the universe became flesh and and took our punishment for our sins. The Christian faith proclaims a God that loves us so much that He died for us so that we, underserving sinners, could be freely given eternal life. Every other religion is based on man's performance to attain righteousness in it's gods eyes.

So if Christianity is based on an all loving God, then isn't it just when the world asks "where is that love, when these unspeakable tragedies occur?" What we must not miss, however, is the statement that the question implies; Love would rescue us from death.

So, where was this loving God when this monster pointed his gun at those little innocent kindergarten children and pulled the trigger. I can't answer for the other gods and I can't see Jesus with my eyes to tell you that he was there with those children, but I can tell you, without any question, where the loving God was, when he was on the earth. Jesus was beaten within an inch of his life and then they drove spikes through his hands and feet and hung him naked on a cross in front of the entire city and shoved a spear in His side. They left him there alive for hours, until he finally died a slow and excruciating death, right next to you and me.

He was innocent and yet he was crucified with two criminals. At those men's worst hour, when they were being killed in the worst way possible and they absolutely deserved it for their crimes, Jesus was right there going through death with them and he told the one that believed in him "today, you will be with me in paradise." Our God is well acquainted with our tragedy and grief and if he went through the most excruciating death possible to save criminals and sinners like us, then it certainly applies to those precious little children in Sandy Hook Elementary.

Jesus did not come to rescue us from dying, but he came to rescue us from the eternity that is after death and He went through death for us to secure a way.

Who was the Son of God when he was on earth? Isaiah 53 says, "He had no beauty that we should desire him ... He was despised and rejected; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief ... He was wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities ... led like a lamb to the slaughter ... cut off from the land of the living ... they made his grave with the wicked ... He poured out his soul unto death ... yet He bore the sins of many."

Our God is well aquatinted with tragic death and grief, to the point that he experienced it himself so that we could have eternal life. Jesus rose from the dead and conquered death so that those children, though they could not stop their own death, they could have eternal life with the loving God. 

Instead of trying to find a way to fit my loving God into tragic and unspeakable death, I will take it a step further and tell you that the love of God cannot be seen or comprehended outside of death, for in Jesus, it is the way to eternal life with God.

Where was God in this tragic event, I will answer it by asking "Where was He when the innocent Lamb of God was tragically crucified? He allowed His innocent harmless lamb to be crucified, so that at the hour of unspeakable death, the most helpless little lamb could have the hope of an eternal life that not even the most wicked monster in the world, could take away.

"O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"

David Pyatt

Danville