If we only knew.
Dark lyrics ought to give us pause in the present day…
Many Christians sing the Coventry Carol without thinking much about the lyrics. The subject matter is quite dark and not at all “Christmasy.” It often appears as a worship hymn suggestion at the beginning of the calendar year, that is, after Christmas.
For those who read the Nativity Story sequentially, the account of what is often called “the slaughter of the innocents,” occurs at this point. It is the grim story of King Herod’s attempt to eliminate his competition for kingship by ordering his soldiers to kill all the male Jewish children who are two years old and under. That way, he is sure to include this newly born King of the Jews, about which the Magi had told him.
It is here that the chronology becomes a little confusing. For one thing, the three kings did not make an appearance for two years—it took them that long to travel to Herod’s locale—so the depictions of the Wise Men at the stable are clearly anachronistic; they were never there! There are other textual difficulties, but they are unimportant here.
But killing children is never palatable, but perhaps it can be rationalized—especially if a greater personal right is at stake. Of course, I am speaking of the dubious “right to bear arms,” as articulated in the Second Amendment. We seem to ignore all the others, as well as the wisdom of our founding document reminding us of the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Photo by Julian Gentile on Unsplash
I will never forget where I was on December 14, 2012. I was sitting in a large Masonic convocation in Detroit when I received a text alert on my cell phone informing me of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
The perpetrator, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, shot and killed 26 people. The victims were 20 children between six and seven years old, and 6 adult staff members. Earlier that day, before driving to the school, Lanza fatally shot his mother at their Newtown home. As first responders arrived at the school, Lanza killed himself with a gunshot to the head. (Source: Wikipedia).
Those children, first graders, would have graduated high school this past spring. Some of them would have started college. Besides the horror of the news, I remember thinking that America at last would not tolerate the murder of 20 precious children. I was wrong because virtually nothing has been done to stem the gun violence. This was not the first school shooting—sadly, it would not be the last.
We blithely sing the words of the Coventry Carol in Christian worship:
Lully, lullay, thou little tiny child,
Bye bye, lully, lullay.
Thou little tiny child,
Bye bye, lully, lullay.O sisters too, how may we do
For to preserve this day
This poor youngling for whom we sing,
“Bye bye, lully, lullay?”Herod the king, in his raging,
Chargèd he hath this day
His men of might in his own sight
All young children to slay.That woe is me, poor child, for thee
And ever mourn and may
For thy parting neither say nor sing,
“Bye bye, lully, lullay.”My wife and I were having drinks with friends on another occasion ten years later when the television news reported yet another school tragedy involving guns and death. “Nineteen children and two adults were killed in a shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on May 24, 2022. It is the deadliest shooting ever at a Texas public school.” (Source: The Texas Tribune). I could hardly believe what I was seeing.
As more information about the incident was received, it became obvious that local officials had botched the response and had allowed the shooter to take even more life because of the hour-long delay before confronting him. Later evidence would establish that the police failure was nothing short of the dereliction of duty.
The words of the dark carol ought to give us pause. Instead, the legislative and policy dialogue—to the extent that there is any—involves inordinate concern about the perceived right of ordinary citizens to purchase and employ whatever firearms they want—because they have the right. Hogwash! The argument is both legally and intellectually dishonest. And even if that argument were true, common sense demands an effective system of background checks.
The sad truth is that my initial belief that America would not tolerate such carnage has proven false several times over since 2012. Several politicians have offensively suggested that we just need to “get over” such tragedies.
We have not held any of policy-makers responsible for their immoral inaction, and still we sing:
That woe is me, poor child, for thee
And ever mourn and may
For thy parting neither say nor sing,
“Bye bye, lully, lullay.”Perhaps we deserve what we have wrought. Lord, in your mercy…
Thinking Out Loud publishes twice weekly on Substack.com and on WordPress at Shalomista.com.. Thank you for supporting my work. Please share these posts widely and consider a subscription. Join the fray with a paid subscription and give me a piece of your mind— or you can always lurk for free! All views expressed are entirely my own and have no connection to any institution of which I might be a member.
Raising Basileia 