Ration after the Irrational

Some of my friends have been trying to make sense of the violence of this weekend. Shoot, I gave it a shot in yesterday's sermon myself. Still, there is a danger in all of this.

These acts yesterday were the acts of a man with real mental trouble. I am not fit to diagnose, not will I ever be called upon to judge his mental health. But after hearing some interviews and seeing his YouTube videos, he did not seem to be in perfect mental health to me.

So when people of good conscience try to make conclusions beyond his actions, there will be some lapses.It's inevitable! What Jared Loughner did was beyond reason. Some political rhetoric in the Cable News Sphere and the Talk Radio Sphere and the BlogoSphere and the Twittersphere and whatever other else spheres are out on the other side of civility too. But to connect the two, trying to create a relationship that says one causes the other is perilous at best.

Friends, don't try to make sense of the acts of a killer. It's not going to help. What we must do is take responsibility for our own actions, our own speech, and our own images. Which reminds me, this isn't the first time a "peace sign" has been replaced by the Mercedes-Benz logo, but can we try to make it the last?