Fighting the Blame Game
Christian World News
December 14, 2007
CWN.com -The Colorado shooter was once a candidate for the mission field, and was raised in a Christian home.
Friends of Matthew Murray's family say they have a deep Christian faith and raised their children in a loving atmosphere. Yet Matthew had become hostile to the faith, dabbled in the occult, and sought refuge in online forums for people who had left the faith.
Police believe he wrote this Internet post between the attacks: "You Christians brought this on yourselves. All i want to do is kill and injure as many of you. as I can. Especially Christians, who are to blame for most of the problems in this world."
Colorado pastor Bruce Porter has ministered to the families of victims of the Columbine and Nickel Mines shootings. He told Christian World News that parents can help their children keep bitterness and rage out of their lives by teaching them to take responsibility for their own pain.
Here is the transcript of the interview. To watch the whole interview, click play above.
GEORGE THOMAS: Joining us now is Bruce Porter, a pastor from Littleton, Colo. He ministered to survivors of the Columbine shootings in 1999 and the victims of the Amish shootings in 2006.
Bruce the question on many people's minds is, 'How could a child raised in a Christian home commit such a terrible crime?'
BRUCE PORTER: Well this is a classic case of an Anakin Skywalker becoming a Darth Vader. You know we can't say anything here, of course, that would harmful or hurtful to the Murray family because we join them in their grief. But you know, when people harbor resentments in their lives and resentments, as Matthew apparently did, it breeds resentments and as time goes by you see them gather together with people of like mind and like bitterness, and what you hold in your heart as bitterness becomes poison to your soul.
GT: What would you say to parents who may see similar tendencies in their children? How can they head this off?
BP: Well, you know, rules without relationship breed resentment and rebellion. Unfortunately, we as Christians err on the side of giving the rules to our children without reinforcing those with loving, graceful relationships. And again, I'm not reflecting on the Murray family, I believe that they're wonderful, loving Christian parents, but I believe it's critical for all of us as Christians to really look at the way we're relating the rules to our children and reinforcing those with a lot of love and compassion and grace in their lives.
GT: Mass shootings are becoming more common in America. How can we protect our children from this culture of violence? What do we say to them in the midst of all this?
BP: Well, first of all, I don't think isolation is the answer. I think we need to expose our children to what is going on and actually perhaps take them to some of these web sites and show them what is going on and what's happening. And then, lovingly show them that the enemy is a 'blameologist" -- the devil is the one who always tries to blame other people for their own pain, people who give in to that. And I think we need to educate our children to really, take responsibility for their own pain and then not project that out and say, 'Well, it's someone else's fault," as Matthew did, blaming the Christians and blaming the Church and so forth and Christianity in general. But to really look inside ourselves and say, "Am I harboring bitterness, am I harboring anger, am I letting resentment breed in my heart?" And to really let our children have a healthy assessment of what kind of hatred is out there in the world. The devil really is the original, "blameologist."
GT: As I mentioned earlier, you've been involved in ministering to the victims at Columbine as well as those at the Amish shooting. What do you say to families who have suffered such a traumatic loss? How do you help them begin to heal?
BP: Well, it's very difficult, because in the initial stages of grief, of course, there's a lot of numbness, and I think it's so important for people to gather around as we did with the Columbine families and in other places in the world, we were with families in Erfurt, Germany, when a young man opened fire in his school -- it's to gather around them and be a support to them and help them to know they're not alone and there are people who are there to serve in practical ways, as well as to pray for them and support them emotionally and morally.
GT: Bruce Porter, we're running out of time. Thank you so much for your insights, you're playing a very important role thanks for these families, again, thank you so much for being on the broadcast. Bruce Porter.
BP: It's an honor.
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