On Sunday night, a shooter rained gunfire on 22,000 music fans along the Las Vegas Strip. The gunman, Stephen Paddock, fired from the 32nd floor of a Mandalay Bay Resort hotel, killing at least 59 people and wounding more than 500 others. Paddock’s motives are unknown.
In the face of horrors like this, we want refuge, comfort, answers, solutions. We want to know who the shooter is and why he did it. We want to know where God is in the midst of such evil. We want to know what we could have done to stop this evil act.
Most importantly, we want to know what we should do in response. Let me suggest five things we can do as we are processing this tragedy.
[To read the rest of the article, as published at Fox News Opinion, click here.]
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From a religious point of view, I believe you are right on target. Apart from that, I do not agree with what seems to be your uncritical acceptance of the proposition that Stephen Paddock was the sole perpetrator of this monstrous crime. If our system of criminal justice is still functioning, this matter should be the subject of a massive investigation. The first principle of investigation is that you should never assume ANYTHING. There is abundant evidence to suppose that this atrocity was planned and carried out by multiple individuals, and that evidence must be dealt with–not disregarded or suppressed.
Dr. Ashford is not one of the individuals responsible for investigating the mass murder You’re absolutely right that the police and FBI should not assume that Paddock was acting alone, but that has nothing to do with how Christians should respond to this atrocity. We should weep, and pray, and point people to Christ. If there are opportunities to care for the afflicted, we should do that as well.
Thank you, Nathan. I’ve heard that Las Vegas churches are being very proactive in ministering. Thankful for them.
Las Vegas churches have no doubt had a great deal of experience in dealing with victims. Their city is the suicide capital of North America. About 14 years ago, one of my coworkers killed himself just after returning from there–I suppose he gambled and lost.
Roger, you’re right that we shouldn’t immediately buy in to the initial description. I’m reading further and the sherriff himself is saying that he thinks the shooter had to have had some help along the way.
There are far too many similarities to other American mass shootings in recent years. If the modus operandi hasn’t changed too much we will learn that the surveillance cameras in the hotel were “out of order” when they should have detected all those guns being brought in, and that various facets of the investigation will be blocked or kept secret for “national security” reasons. Computer records pertaining to Mr. Paddock will disappear. Lawsuits against the hotel may be thwarted. There is a great evil afoot in this country.