Who Is To Blame?

When tragedy suddenly strikes a home or family, a city or a nation, the people directly affected experience any number of emotions, including unbridled sadness, hurt, loss, emptiness and grief. When the sharp edge of shock and piercing point of pain are slightly numbed by emotional fatigue, it is not abnormal for anger and resentment to enter people’s hearts. Anger from the devastating loss seeks to focus on or attack something. Whose fault is it? Who is blame for such an atrocity? Counselors see these transitions as part of the normal grieving process. Call it what you may, people will seek comfort for the pain. In so doing, they often turn their thoughts from their losses, and towards anger at what they see as the cause or culprit.

Who can we blame for such a tragedy as the one in Aurora, Colorado? Who is responsible for the senseless loss of life and the upheaval of so many families? Is the gunman the only culprit? Was he part of, or influenced by, an extremist organization? Perhaps we can blame his parents? Or maybe the counselors at his university knew something that, if made known earlier, would have prevented all this. Some have even pointed fingers at the movie industry.

In today’s litigious society, civil or criminal charges will no doubt be brought against the owners and managers of the venue where the shootings took place. Perhaps the movie producers themselves will be named as defendants. The victims’ families and their supporters will rally and sound the battle cry. Legislators are already under scrutiny: are tougher gun laws needed, stronger penalties, perhaps a more rigorous screening process prior to the purchase of firearms? The search is on to find someone to blame beyond the primary suspect. Some person or agency must pay—and pay big—for allowing this to happen. So many people cannot have died in vain—something must be done! And then, inevitably, there will be those who look to the sky and cry “Why? Why, God, have you let this happen? What kind of God allows such events?” The true God, the Creator God of all heaven and earth, has again and again been blamed after such horrible events that cause such terrible devastation.

The real God of the Bible, the ultimate Spirit Being who sits on the throne of mercy and grace, promises to execute judgment and vengeance for the un-repented sins of this world. The God who is covered by the wings of cherubim, however, is not the one to whom we should direct our anger or blame. Few today realize that there is another “god” in this world, one who Jesus Christ acknowledged but to whom He never submitted. That “god” is also a very real spirit being, but very different from Jesus Christ or God the Father. This god, too, holds a throne, albeit a very temporary one. His name is Satan the Devil—the father of lies, a murderer (John 8:44), the deceiver of the whole world (Revelation 12:9), and the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10).

Yes, there is someone who is to blame—someone who has already been pronounced guilty. Satan is responsible for the vile condition of our society, and is the ruler of the “civilization” we live in today. He, ultimately, is the source of the sad and horrific events we read about in so many headlines.

Thankfully Satan’s time will soon come to an end. The Bible tells us that an angel will throw him into a bottomless pit, rendering him powerless for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-3). True Christians anticipate this future event, each year, as they observe the Day of Atonement during the biblical fall Holy Day season.

One day, very soon, Jesus Christ and His saints will bring peace and harmony to turn this world right side up. To learn more about future God has planned for Christians, read our booklet Your Ultimate Destiny. Also read our booklet Satan’s Counterfeit Christianity to learn more about our enemy and the downward societal trends we see daily in our news.