The Mediæval Bæbes: Coventry Carol

A carol where a mother (teacher) sings to a small child to be quiet so as not to be killed seems particularly appropriate in a society where school lock down drills have become common.

Lully, lullay, Thou little tiny Child,

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

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 do sing

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Herod, the king, in his raging,

Charged he hath this day

His men of might, in his owne sight,

All young children to slay.

Deep in your hearts--you know it's long past time for action

The Massacre of the Innocents.

Today's lesson comes from Matthew 2:16–18: The Massacre of the Innocents.

When [the Magi] had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. Get up, he said, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him. So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son." When Herod realised that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old or under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.

It is part of the Narrative of the Birth of Christ, yet this incident is only mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew and later Christian authorities who use this gospel as a source.  It is repeated each year with the singing of the Coventry Carol, which came from that City's Mystery Play:

Lully, lullay, Thou little tiny Child,

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

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 do sing

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Herod, the king, in his raging,

Charged he hath this day

His men of might, in his owne sight,

All young children to slay.

That woe is me, poor Child for Thee!

And ever mourn and sigh,

For thy parting neither say nor sing,

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Some people have doubted this was an actual historical event since it is only mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew.  Some people see this as being a contrived feature of the Gospels to show that Jesus was the Messiah by fulfilling the prophecy of being called out of Egypt.

Today is the anniversary of a mass shooting where 20 small children were shot.  This incident was well reported and documented, yet there are some who would deny that it happened.

Unfortunately, this is only one incident where children fall victim to firearms violence.  It seems that children are shot both intentionally and accidentally on a daily basis in the States.

There are those who would twist an archaic passage in the US Constitution which deals with an obscure institution, the Militia, which some would like to say would cause this to be an unintentional consequence of a "right" to own weapons outside the context of that institution.  This is despite the Constitution's purposes of  "insuring domestic tranquility" and "promoting the general welfare" as well as saying that people should not "be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law".

Instead, we see people acting like Herod and countenancing a new slaughter of the innocents.  For what purpose?

Unlike the unborn, these are not speculative lives: they are persons who were living, breathing, and playing.  They had parents who wanted to bring them into this world. They would have had futures had there not been the easy access to firearms which leads to these new massacres of the innocents on a daily basis. 

For those who would say they want to protect the unborn: why do they not wish to also protect the born?   As Sister Joan Chittister pointed out:

I do not believe that just because you're opposed to abortion, that that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed. And why would I think that you don't? Because you don't want any tax money to go there. That's not pro-life. That's pro-birth. We need a much broader conversation on what the morality of pro-life is.

I will add that you cannot call yourself pro-life if you tolerate the daily massacres of the living innocents on top of the"pro-birth" attitude mentioned by Sister Joan Chittister.

In short, if you are going to truly proclaim yourself as being "pro-life" then you should want to protect the lives of those who are actually alive.  You would also want to see that their welfare was assured in keeping with the Gospel.  You need to think of the child who was born into poverty who talked of peace on earth and good will to mankind in this season.

Nice one

Tell us again  about how you are responsible gun owners:

In a comment thread last January, a Redditor whose account has since been deleted asked FirearmConcierge if he had faced criminal charges related to firearms trafficking. FirearmConcierge replied that he had not, adding: "There are plenty of dealers out there who make sales without doing background checks. I know dealers that operate exclusively without doing any background checks." He also stated: "I too have been known not to do a background check on some transactions."

You, gun loons, in your Bizarro World way you tell US we "dance on the graves of the dead".

Do you have any fucking idea what that term means?

Well, we have seen that mass shootings are good for gun sales.

More here

"and on earth peace, good will toward men"

I kind of wonder about you if the memory 20 little kids getting slaughtered does not ruin your holiday season.  I know it causes all sorts of trauma for families which have suffered from the plague of gun violence in the United States: and don't deny that it is a plague and save us the "guns save lives" nonsense.

A year ago, 20 little kids were slaughtered in their school.  Pureed with an assault rifle, something that was designed for combat.  The slaughter was over in a few minutes.  Most of these incidents are over quickly.

Of course, the forensic pictures of the pureed little kids won't make it to the paper.  Sensitivity to the victims families, although Noah Pozner's mother made sure people saw what the AR-15 did to her kid. Part of me wants to respect the families, yet there is another part that would love to have these disgusting pictures shown to shame the people who keep insisting "guns save lives".

The other problem is that this is not an isolated incident, which is a terrible thing to consider when you try to say that the United States is a civilised nation.  People value life in a civilised nation.  People don't use deadly force for "self-defence" unless absolutely necessary in a civilised nation (force allow is that reasonable to end the threat).

On the other hand, the United States is a place where parents wonder if they will see their children again when they send them to school.  Where people wait to find out if their children are victims when they are about one of these incidents at their child's school.

Sad for a nation that talks about  the right to life and tries to pretend it is in someway "Christian" (or at all ethical).  There is something called the "golden rule" or rule of reciprocity where you treat others as you would have them treat you.  That is common to all religions.  Would those who profess to be "Christian" want to be in the situation where they have their child slaughtered?

Although, we see loads of incidents where well meaning parents bring firearms into their homes only to have their child injured or killed.

More importantly, this is the season when we need to think of the words "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men".

If one is going to talk of a war on Christmas, one need to think of who is working to destroy its meaning.  This is supposed to be a season of peace.  One where soldiers crossed "No Man's Land" in 1914 to celebrate the holiday, much to their superior's consternation.  On the other hand, the United States doesn't really appreciate the Season.  The New England Puritans banned the holiday.  George Washington used it to surprise the Hessian soldiers at Trenton. 

Perhaps, people in the US like to talk Christianity, but not really practise it.  Think upon the words:  "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men"

Does an armed society, one which is supposed to be civilised and at peace really live up to that?

Even if you are "pro-gun", think of the families of Newtown who have lost their Children and do a little soul searching.

People are beginning to get fed up with the status quo.

Winthrop Eagles coach Pat Kelsey, seizing what he believed was a special opportunity, gave an impassioned address Tuesday in response to the recent Sandy Hook Elementary School killings.

"When I walked into the press conference, I had never been in a chair with a microphone in front of me with that many cameras," Kelsey said. "Something came over me. I don't know if it was divine intervention or what, but it struck me that I had a platform that very few people in the world have."

He expressed thankfulness for the ability to go home and kiss his daughters, ages 4 and 5, who are barely younger than the youngest Newtown victims. And just as he prodded his Panther teammates in 1992, he challenged national leaders to bring about any changes necessary to prevent future tragedies.

"Parents, teachers, rabbis, priests, coaches, everybody needs to step up. This has to be a time for change," Kelsey said. "And I know this microphone's powerful right now, because we're playing the fourth-best team in the country." 

Thank you for saying what you did, Coach Kelsey.  I wish your team the best.