A man walks into a bar is the opening line of a joke. A man walks into a movie theater is the opening line of a homicide investigation. This is the hottest summer in recorded Colorado history. There are forest fires in the mountains. There is gunfire in the city. On the morning we awoke Read more
Like the rest of the country, I was horrified to hear of the massacre at the midnight screening of the new Batman film. I’ve witnessed gun violence firsthand from a very early age. All my life, I’ve seen families mourning the way that the families in Colorado are now mourning. I wish there was something Read more
A Catholic priest has suggested that Satan may have driven accused killer James Holmes to open fire at a Colorado cinema, continuing the religious debate over a shooting that claimed 12 lives and wounded 58 more. “Was he demon possessed? Maybe. It happens,” the Rev. Dwight Longenecker wrote at the Patheos website, where the Catholic Read more
A frenzied media and a disturbed angry lone assassin in search of massive attention have coalesced in a Colorado cinema like a perfect storm. This is not the first, nor will it be the last time unfortunately. The ghastly details of the tragic slayings in Colorado are now common knowledge. Yet many experts agree that dramatic, hysterical publicising of the perpetrator Read more
“Every country has, along with its core civilities and traditions, some kind of inner madness, a belief so irrational that even death and destruction cannot alter it.” That was my colleague Adam Gopnik commenting the other day on America’s attitude toward gun laws. Having read some of the comments on my own post about President Obama’s failure Read more
Before the dead had even been carried from the cinema in Colorado on Friday afternoon a CBS broadcaster said in a solemn radio editorial: ”We’ll eventually find out who James Holmes is, but he’s not a terrorist, we’re told, and thousands of other showings were peaceful, so really we have to start seeing these things as Read more
While people flock to churches to pray and gather in public spaces to console each other after the Batman massacre, some voices are being raised saying prayer is not a sufficient response; change is needed. At Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Aurora, Denver, where nearly 1,500 people gathered to remember parishioner A.J. Boik, who Read more