CAMP Spirit

I was in Boston when I heard about the shootings at Virginia Tech. Like the rest of the world, I was horrified. I was especially shocked because I lived just a few miles from there in the early 1990s and knew exactly where the gun shop was located at which one of the murder weapons was purchased. Like everyone else "blessed" with the benefits of television and internet, I soon knew way more than I ever wanted to know about the gunman. I was outraged that someone could do that much harm to that many people; I thought of the victims and their families, as well as Mr. Cho’s family, who live in the same suburb of Washington, D.C. where I resided just prior to moving to Rehoboth.

But as the news stories lengthened and as the networks and news agencies began showing and commenting upon the film sent to NBC News by Cho, I began to feel some other things—such as disappointment and anger at our American culture and how it treats tragedies such as this. I started comparing the media’s portrayal of Cho with how other recent mass killers had been portrayed, and I became dismayed at the overt racism and ethnocentrism I witnessed being played out before me. For example, much is being made of Cho’s non-citizenship and the fact that his family emigrated from Korea. A friend of mine just two days after the shooting spree heard someone at the gym making derogatory remarks about "all these Asians" who live in the U.S. (I was reminded of when Andrew Cunanan’s gayness was revealed and how this sensational morsel took over the airwaves and changed the tenor of the coverage.) Nancy Grace on Headline News (among others) demonized Cho and his family repeatedly during her extremely sarcastic running commentary which was interspersed with the showing of his video. She discounted his obvious pain and emotionally disturbed ranting by pointing out "how good" the Chos had it and how they were living the American dream he had vilified. This was in stark contrast to the sympathetic coverage received by the shooters at Columbine and even in some ways by Timothy McVeigh—each of whom were portrayed as troubled young people who had endured unfortunate childhoods, and each of whom just happened to be white.

It is clear to me that the United States has learned nothing from its past racist history. The ramifications of our treatment of Native people and those of African descent have not made us more open to non-white people; instead, we seem more prone to render those different from ourselves as "other" and to distance ourselves from them and their behavior because, after all, they aren’t "like us" and will never be "like us." Instead of looking at the underlying causes of the 9/11 tragedy and how American imperialist attitudes and behavior may have engendered the anger and hatred displayed on that tragic day, our government chose to launch a war on terror which is only a thinly-disguised war on the Arab world and followers of Islam. Instead of asking how our elitist, consumerist culture creates people like Cho and the rage they feel at the privileged people around them, we demonize Asians and call for stricter university security.

You may be asking in what way these are spiritual issues; however, I would submit that everything in our world is in some way a spiritual issue—or should be. All of our dealings with the other inhabitants of this globe are spiritual issues. When events like this transpire, we should of course pray for guidance and comfort, but we should also begin to ask hard questions: What makes people kill? What causes them to become so angry that they explode in murderous rage? What drives our neighbors crazy and pushes them beyond the point of no return? How do our society’s structures and systems foment discontent and despair? I believe that as long as our system is broken, we will continue to see these sorts of tragedies. As long as we perpetuate through our inaction a society where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, where skin color and gender and economic privilege count more than justice and equality, we will see emotional turmoil and quiet desperation. Each of the world’s religions has scriptures and principles which could help to reorder our world so that compassion, love, and common humanity become the law of every land and not just idealistic pipe dreams. When will we turn to these religions and heed what they teach?

The Rev. Tom Bohache pastors the Metropolitan Community Church of Rehoboth. He is co-editor of the new Queer Bible Commentary, released by SCM/Canterbury Press. Email pastor@mccrehoboth.org.