A Theological Treatise from Pittsburgh

By DON ROLLINS

“They took their last breath wrapped in tallit … And we will bury them the same way. Eternally precious, enfolded within the fabric of our people … They took their last breath believing in a better tomorrow, and we will never forsake that vision, come what may.” — Rabbi Danny Schiff

“All Jews Must Die.” Those were the words Robert Bowers bellowed as he stormed the sanctuary of Tree of Life Congregation on Oct. 27. Armed with an AR-15 assault rifle and three high-powered handguns, by the time he was taken into custody 78 minutes later, 11 lie dead. Six others, including four police officers, were wounded in the attack.

These overtly anti-semitic events continue to reverberate here in Pittsburgh. For the many, their city was cruelly robbed — not just of 11 of its own — but its self-image as a tolerant, melting-pot community.

As is always the case with cities victimized by targeted massacres, questions of why haunt Pittsburgh: Why so heinous an act, why here?

Predictable but no less infuriating, some area religious leaders have answered those questions by laying blame at the feet of “godless” progressives, political as well as religious. Theirs is a God of retribution, exacting revenge upon anyone and anything smacking of sin as they define it. In that cosmology, Bowers was an agent of divine purpose, and Tree of Life was simple payback.

Yet scores of other clergy, Jewish and non-, have publicly put forth very different theological responses. What they have in common is humility before the murky realm of human evil — the place where in the name of tribal exceptionalism, violence against the dreaded “other” can be justified, if not demanded. Here, there is no insecure, vindictive God, settling old scores by inflicting suffering. Instead there is only us to take responsibility for the evil we visit upon one another.

For those for whom religion is important, which of these two theologies one finds convincing matters, especially in a city rich with religious diversity. In the first, no one is beyond becoming a sacrificial offering as atonement for others’ transgressions. Safety is an illusion, and your fellow human beings, potential threats. Per the president’s counsel, the answer to armed intruders is armed guards — fight fire with fire.

In the second, we’re free moral agents, stuck in this hot mess of a world together: it’s we (humans) who tolerate the anti-semitic pogroms of our age; and it’s we who abide the disastrous influence of the NRA and other “hands off” gun lobbies. In this theological camp, the only scapegoats are in our mirrors.

The divide between the two schools of thought is real here in Pittsburgh, a city rightfully proud of its religious diversity. Taken on the whole, those who embrace a theology of human responsibility appear to easily outnumber the noisy but few doomsayers.

Whatever the actual numbers, the sorrowful events that unfolded at Tree of Life have served as a reminder theology still counts for something in this community. Jews and non-Jews, believers and doubters have crowded multiple Shabbat services held at temples and synagogues throughout the greater metro area. Brought together by the unimaginable come true, a large if temporary “congregation” has come into being.

In those spaces, there is no room for the religion of sinners in the hand of an angry God. Only the religion of grief, comfort and resolve to make things better.

Don Rollins is a Unitarian Universalist minister and substance abuse counselor living in Pittsburgh, Pa. Email donaldlrollins@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, December 1, 2018

Populist.com