{"id":53937,"date":"2016-06-15T16:33:39","date_gmt":"2016-06-15T21:33:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=53937"},"modified":"2016-06-16T09:54:09","modified_gmt":"2016-06-16T14:54:09","slug":"orlando-wrath-of-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/orlando-wrath-of-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando\u2014the Wrath of Man"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even if the victims of a tragedy offend your religious sensibilities, you\u2019re still not God\u2019s designated spokesman.<\/h4>\n
\"Shooting_at_Pulse_Nightclub_Orlando\"
Law enforcement arriving at the Pulse Nightclub.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After being incommunicado for three days following the combination of Shabbos and Shavuos, I did what so many of us did: I logged onto Facebook. I posted a few pieces of lighthearted ephemera, as one does, but then I started to see references to Orlando in my newsfeed. After noticing two or three such references, I headed to Google and was appalled to learn of the horrific massacre that had occurred in Pulse, a gay club.<\/p>\n

It was disappointing \u2013 though not surprising \u2013 to see that politicians on both sides had already jumped on this. This side blamed gun violence and called for stricter weapons bans. That side called it terrorism and called for tougher scrutiny in entering the country. Each side blamed the other for the tragedy because, if you\u2019d only listened to us in the first place, this could never have happened.<\/p>\n

While I dislike the politicization of tragedies, especially so soon in the wake of the event, it has come to be expected. What I truly dreaded, given the identity of the targeted victims, was the coming of the self-appointed prophets who would invariably tell us that this was God\u2019s wrath. Sadly, such holier-than-thou posturing has become expected when the victims of a catastrophe offend someone\u2019s religious sensibilities. It was inescapable during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s. In the wake of hurricane Katrina, New Orleans was likened to Sodom and Gomorrah. There are even those who say that 9\/11 was the \u201cwrath of God\u201d based on their objection to (name virtually anything). How could it not be coming in this instance as well?<\/p>\n

While there was less of this attitude than I had feared, I did see two instances of it within the first 24 hours of becoming aware of the incident. In the first, an Orthodox Jew shot a video in which he called the victims sinners and clarified that \u201cGod hates sin.\u201d He also said \u201cgood for him\u201d about the shooter. The second was a pastor who claimed that the victims \u201cdeserve what they got\u201d and that Orlando was \u201ca little safer\u201d without them. More are no doubt coming.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s so much wrong here, I don\u2019t even know where to begin.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the fellow who decided that the victims were \u201csinners.\u201d The first problem is holding others to your religious beliefs because \u2013 you know what? \u2013 others may have different beliefs. And, according to many other belief systems, you\u2019re<\/em> the sinner. For example, let\u2019s imagine that, after the recent shooting in Tel Aviv, someone had said, \u201cNot believing in Jesus is a sin and God hates sinners, so that\u2019s what you get.\u201d I imagine that would not have been an acceptable statement to our aforementioned Jewish vlogger.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s say that, according to your belief system, they were<\/em> sinners. Fine. You know what else is a sin? Sabbath violation. Gossip. Being dishonest in business. Hurting people\u2019s feelings by saying hateful things. And you know who else is a sinner? You. Also me. All of us. As King Solomon put it, \u201cThere is no one on Earth so righteous that he only does good and doesn\u2019t sin\u201d (Ecclesiastes 7:20). It\u2019s why we need Yom Kippur. No one gets to say, \u201cI\u2019m good\u201d and just stay home.<\/p>\n

You may want to split hairs that your sins are \u201clittle\u201d and other people\u2019s sins are \u201cbig.\u201d That actually works against your case. The greater you are, the more responsible you are for your actions. For example, why was Moses punished so harshly just for hitting a rock (Numbers chapter 20)? Because he was on the level of Moses. If you\u2019re really that righteous, your \u201clittle\u201d sins are quite big indeed.<\/p>\n

So, if we\u2019re all sinners, do victims of tragedies really \u201cdeserve what they got?\u201d The prophet Ezekiel says: \u201cDo I desire at all that a wicked person should die? says the Lord God. Rather, he should turn from his ways and live\u201d (Ez. 18:23). In case you missed it, he reiterates: \u201c\u2026I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live\u2026\u201d (ibid. 33:11). If God says He takes no pleasure in such things, what human should deign to suggest otherwise? People justify that they are God\u2019s friends and others are the enemy, but Proverbs tells us (24:17), \u201cDo not rejoice when your enemy falls.\u2026\u201d Again, don\u2019t presume to know these things better than what God actually tells us.<\/p>\n

Just last week<\/a><\/u>, in our discussion of verbal oppression, we cited the Talmud (Baba Metzia 58b) that it\u2019s sinful to suggest to one who is suffering that his troubles are punishments for his own misdeeds, the way that Job\u2019s friends did. This is why you never pay a condolence call and hear someone say, \u201cYeah, well, your grandfather drove on Shabbos\u2026.\u201d If you have such ideas, they\u2019re best kept to yourself.<\/p>\n

There are times when we can debate, but this is not about wedding cakes or bathroom access. Nothing justifies the actions perpetrated by Orlando shooter Omar Mateen. If the victims of a tragedy happen to offend your religious sensibilities, that\u2019s no license to decide that you\u2019re God\u2019s designated spokesman. Are acts of violence perpetrated against Jews in the Intifada proof of Allah\u2019s wrath? I assume not. Violence targets every demographic; it\u2019s awfully selective to decide that only acts perpetrated against others represent the wrath of Your Understanding of God.<\/p>\n

Murder is murder. It is never okay. It is the act of evil men, nothing more and nothing less. In this matter, God made His thoughts clear when He said \u201cThou shalt not murder\u201d (Exodus 20:13). When such things happen \u2013 as they unfortunately will \u2013 siding with the murderer against the victims is also siding against God. Perhaps we would be better off remembering another of His commandments, from Leviticus 19:18, \u201c\u2026love thy neighbor as thyself.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even if the victims of a tragedy offend your religious sensibilities, you\u2019re still not God\u2019s designated spokesman. After being incommunicado for three days following the combination of Shabbos and Shavuos, I did what so many of us did: I logged onto Facebook. I posted a few pieces of lighthearted ephemera, as one does, but then<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":384,"featured_media":53938,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nOrlando\u2014the Wrath of Man - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What should Jews think about the terrorist attack in Orlando?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/orlando-wrath-of-man\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Orlando\u2014the Wrath of Man - OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What should Jews think about the terrorist attack in Orlando?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/orlando-wrath-of-man\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-06-15T21:33:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-06-16T14:54:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Shooting_at_Pulse_Nightclub.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/orlando-wrath-of-man\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/orlando-wrath-of-man\/\",\"name\":\"Orlando\u2014the Wrath of Man - OU Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/orlando-wrath-of-man\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/orlando-wrath-of-man\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Shooting_at_Pulse_Nightclub.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-15T21:33:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-06-16T14:54:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/50551cbad585e4b2a31b4b0227e06c1c\"},\"description\":\"What should Jews think about the terrorist attack in Orlando?\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/orlando-wrath-of-man\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/orlando-wrath-of-man\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Shooting_at_Pulse_Nightclub.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Shooting_at_Pulse_Nightclub.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/\",\"name\":\"OU Life\",\"description\":\"Everyday Jewish Living\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/50551cbad585e4b2a31b4b0227e06c1c\",\"name\":\"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Rabbi-Jack-Abramowitz_avatar-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Rabbi-Jack-Abramowitz_avatar-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz\"},\"description\":\"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz is Torah Content Editor at the Orthodox Union. He is the author of six books, including The Tzniyus Book and The Taryag Companion. His latest work, The God Book, is available from OU Press as well as on Amazon.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/author\/rabbi-jack-abramowitz\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Orlando\u2014the Wrath of Man - OU Life","description":"What should Jews think about the terrorist attack in Orlando?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/orlando-wrath-of-man\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Orlando\u2014the Wrath of Man - OU Life","og_description":"What should Jews think about the terrorist attack in Orlando?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/orlando-wrath-of-man\/","og_site_name":"OU Life","article_published_time":"2016-06-15T21:33:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-06-16T14:54:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Shooting_at_Pulse_Nightclub.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/orlando-wrath-of-man\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/orlando-wrath-of-man\/","name":"Orlando\u2014the Wrath of Man - OU Life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/orlando-wrath-of-man\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/orlando-wrath-of-man\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Shooting_at_Pulse_Nightclub.jpg","datePublished":"2016-06-15T21:33:39+00:00","dateModified":"2016-06-16T14:54:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/50551cbad585e4b2a31b4b0227e06c1c"},"description":"What should Jews think about the terrorist attack in Orlando?","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/orlando-wrath-of-man\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/orlando-wrath-of-man\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Shooting_at_Pulse_Nightclub.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Shooting_at_Pulse_Nightclub.jpg","width":800,"height":600},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/","name":"OU Life","description":"Everyday Jewish Living","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/50551cbad585e4b2a31b4b0227e06c1c","name":"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Rabbi-Jack-Abramowitz_avatar-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Rabbi-Jack-Abramowitz_avatar-96x96.jpg","caption":"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz"},"description":"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz is Torah Content Editor at the Orthodox Union. He is the author of six books, including The Tzniyus Book and The Taryag Companion. His latest work, The God Book, is available from OU Press as well as on Amazon.","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/author\/rabbi-jack-abramowitz\/"}]}},"acf":[],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/384"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53937"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53956,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53937\/revisions\/53956"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}