{"id":57997,"date":"2017-06-19T14:33:41","date_gmt":"2017-06-19T19:33:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=57997"},"modified":"2017-06-25T05:23:43","modified_gmt":"2017-06-25T10:23:43","slug":"shooting-steve-scalise-not-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/shooting-steve-scalise-not-name\/","title":{"rendered":"Why It’s Essential to Condemn the Scalise Shooting, No Matter What Party You’re In"},"content":{"rendered":"

The big news last week was the shooting of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) at, of all things, a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, VA. But this was not a random shooting. Representative Ron DeSantis (R-FL) described what he called a \u201cvery strange\u201d encounter prior to the attack. DeSantis recounted how he and another congressman were approached by a man who asked whether the players at the practice were Republican or Democrat members of Congress. A few minutes later, the man started shooting. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) said that the event would have turned into a massacre if not for the timely intervention of police and security.<\/span><\/p>\n

The shooter was identified as 66-year-old James Hodgkinson of Illinois, who later died in custody of injuries sustained during the attack. It was discovered that he was in possession of a list of Republican politicians, indicating that this attack was premeditated. And here\u2019s where things get sticky: Hodgkinson publicly identified himself as a staunch supporter of former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (I-VT), going so far as to use Sanders\u2019 image as his Facebook cover photo.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now here\u2019s the question: if Hodgkinson commits a crime in Sanders\u2019 name, is that Sanders\u2019 fault? Logically, the answer is \u201cof course not\u201d but that didn\u2019t stop people from blaming one-time Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin for the 2011 shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ). (The New York Times<\/i> in its coverage of the Scalise shooting repeated as fact the debunked rumor that Palin distributed a map that put political rivals literally \u201cin the crosshairs.\u201d They were quickly criticized for this and retracted the statement.)<\/span><\/p>\n

The appropriate response is exactly what Senator Sanders did, both on the floor of Congress and publicly on Twitter: he condemned what was done in his name. An excerpt: \u201cI am sickened by this despicable act. Let me be as clear as I can be. Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

There you go. We now know what Sanders stands for. But not everyone agrees. Plenty of people stood by the shooter\u2019s actions for a variety of reasons: Scalise spoke at an event hosted by David Duke, so he\u2019s a racist; the Republicans block gun control legislation, so it\u2019s their own fault that Hodgkinson got a gun; the GOP is trying to gut healthcare, so this qualifies as self-defense, etc. Twitter is full of such sentiment. One person even tweeted that \u201cIf KKK support[er] Steve scalise [sic] dies, the shooter deserves a holiday\u2026.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Politically, these people are ostensibly all on Team Sanders. They agree with him when it comes to matters of race, health care and gun control. Where they part company is in the willingness to justify shooting the opposition. That\u2019s a pretty important distinction. This may not be a daily occurrence (thank God!) but it was absolutely imperative that Sanders condemn this action, lest he be perceived of granting it tacit approval.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is important to do any time someone claims to speak for you, your political party, your nation or your religion. If someone misrepresents what you stand for, failure to speak up suggests that you concur. As a common Talmudic dictum says, \u201csilence implies agreement.\u201d For this reason, peace-loving Muslims worldwide vociferously decry terror acts perpetrated by ISIS, who interpret their common religion as one of violence. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just Muslims who must draw such distinctions. In 2014, three Jewish teenagers were kidnaped and murdered by Palestinians. In retaliation, three Israelis kidnaped and murdered a Palestinian teen. Some people may have applauded this act \u2013 the perpetrators certainly felt it was justified \u2013 but Israelis near-universally denounced it, including a unanimous condemnation from Knesset. (Do you have any idea how rare it is for Knesset to do anything<\/i> unanimously?)<\/span><\/p>\n

The Talmud in Sotah (11a) tells an interesting story. It says there that Pharaoh had three advisors: Balaam, Yisro (Jethro) and Iyov (Job). When consulted regarding Pharaoh\u2019s \u201cfinal solution\u201d of drowning the Jewish boys in the Nile, Balaam enthusiastically embraced it. Yisro opposed it, for which he had to flee the land of Midyan. Iyov didn\u2019t support the idea but he remained silent, which was tantamount to giving his approval. Each advisor received Divine payment according to his deeds: Balaam, who embraced evil, was ultimately killed. Yisro, who opposed evil, merited great and righteous descendants. And what about Iyov, who remained silent? He was punished with suffering and afflictions, as described in the Book of Job. <\/span><\/p>\n

British politician Edmund Burke famously said that \u201cThe only thing <\/b>necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.\u201d We cannot let evil people commit sinister deeds in our names. If James Hodgkinson commits acts of evil in Bernie Sanders\u2019 name, Sanders knows it\u2019s his responsibility to condemn the act. When ISIS strikes, imams are moved to denounce that organization\u2019s interpretation of their faith. If an Israeli commits an act of violence against a non-combatant, Israel is quick to say, \u201cThat is not our way.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

On a smaller scale, this is something we should all be doing. If a political ally acts inappropriately, or a coreligionist misrepresents your faith, don\u2019t turn a blind eye just because it\u2019s expedient. As silence implies acquiescence, failure to condemn is tacit approval. We must be vigilant not to allow others to hijack and redefine our values just because we didn\u2019t speak up.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The big news last week was the shooting of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) at, of all things, a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, VA. But this was not a random shooting. Representative Ron DeSantis (R-FL) described what he called a \u201cvery strange\u201d encounter prior to the attack. DeSantis recounted how he and another<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":384,"featured_media":58026,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy It's Essential to Condemn the Scalise Shooting, No Matter What Party You're In - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If someone misrepresents what you stand for, failure to speak up suggests that you concur. 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