Proverbs 11:29

Today, one of the more heinous crimes that can be committed against a democratic republic occurred in Arizona.  A crowd meeting with their congresswoman was gunned down outside a grocery store.  The congresswoman was shot in the head, but is expected to survive.  Six others, including a federal judge and a nine-year-old girl, were not so lucky.  Almost immediately, the reader comments on CNN's website devolved into accusations of either the liberals or the conservatives being behind the attack.

As of the time of writing this post, the gunman's motives have not been made public.  But what does it say that people are willing to believe the opposite political side would be behind this attack?  It says that the level of political discourse in this country has hit rock bottom.  This is in no small part due to the rhetoric from the likes of Limbaugh, Beck, and others on the extreme right and left.  Using loaded terms such as "communist" and "fascist" only serve to dehumanize the other side.  Such a level of discourse does a great disservice to a republic committed to the civil debate of the issues.  Neither side is committed to the destruction of the country, as neither side has nothing to gain by it. 

Ultimately, it appears that the face of this tragedy will be the Arizona congresswoman, and to a lesser extent, the slain federal judge.  But maybe the face of this shooting should be the face of that nine-year-old girl.  A girl who was with her parents to do some shopping, or perhaps with her parents to see the democratic process in person as a lesson, but was sadly in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Now, it is a bit early to say if this shooting was politically motivated.  But from the reactions today, we all know it could very well be.  If it was not politically motivated, we should consider this a warning to tone down the rhetoric.  Take a few seconds and think of a couple of good things that the other political side has done for the country.  An adversarial system is okay, so long as it is not taken to extremes.  Otherwise, we may see more of these nine-year-old girls in similar situations. 

Abraham Lincoln once compared the United States to a house.  (That whole, "a house divided against itself cannot stand," thing.)  And this brings me to the title of this post.  These political pundits and "leaders" who demonize the opposite side at every turn should heed this verse from Proverbs: "He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind."  And probably lead to the destruction of more innocent people.