I haven't watched much of the news for the last 24 hours because it's a bit too much for me. Suffice it to say I've been standing with the Sikh community in prayer, as well as the people of the Milwaukee area.
It seems there's been less outrage on this shooting than the one in Aurora, CO. It's caused me to ponder how we as a society value human life and if we value certain types of human life more than others.
Would I be as outraged if the neo-Nazi went into a Jewish synagogue in my city and killed my neighbros preparing for Aabbath? I also wonder if these had been Christians mowed down by domestic terror in a church service in Milwaukee would there be a greater outcry.
Do we place greater human value on adherents of our own religious group than we do on that of other religious groups?
Was Aurora more horrific because we have all been to a movie cinema but never to a Sikh temple? I mean, we think of movie theatres as safe places so perhaps it feels more 'tragic' to us because theatres are familiar. But most of us don't have a context for a Sikh temple.
Maybe we need a new human context.
Or maybe we are just too numb from the last shooting to even know how to respond.
How great our grief.
***You can send a prayer of hope or message of solidarity to the Sikh community by visiting Groundswell.
