[Annotated] Horror in Las Vegas polarize the world of religion

A massacre^[각주:1] sends clerics^[각주:2] in different directions

Since the horrific^[각주:3] massacre in Las Vegas, the word "evil" has been heard with unusual frequency, on the lips of political leaders as well as clerics. This evil-talk is not just a reflex response^[각주:4] or a banal^[각주:5] statement of the obvious^[각주:6]. It has philosophical^[각주:7] implications, and often places the speaker in a particular corner of the debate about guns.

In the first minute of his response to the killing spree^[각주:8], Donald Trump termed it "an act of pure evil^[각주:9]". Striking an unusually scriptural tone^[각주:10], he went on to quote a verse from^[각주:11] the Psalms, proclaiming that^[각주:12] "The Lord is close to the broken-hearted^[각주:13], He rescues those whose spirits are crushed." Even in that comforting^[각주:14] passage^[각주:15], talk of evil is in the background. It comes a couple of lines after the declaration that^[각주:16] "The Lord turns his face against those who do evil, He will erase their memory from the earth."

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House spokeswoman^[각주:17], in an emotional statement about the killings that included further scriptural reference^[각주:18], began by reminding people that this was an episode "which the president has rightly called an act of pure evil."

What is meant by emphasizing that point? Albert Mohler, a seminary president^[각주:19] and influential figure in^[각주:20] the religious conservative camp^[각주:21], offered a characteristic explanation. As he argued in a response to the killings, evil is a Biblical^[각주:22] category. It can only be full understood from a spiritual perspective which accepts both a loving God^[각주:23] and the existence of forces ranged in^[각주:24] opposition that will ultimately be defeated.

If follows that secular^[각주:25] folk^[각주:26], who are infecting the nation with^[각주:27] a terrible spirit of moral relativism^[각주:28], will not fully^[각주:29] understand the concept of evil, except in glimmerings^[각주:30] when something terrible happens. 

As Mr Mohler put it:

"It is both telling and reassuring that^[각주:31] secular people, faced with moral horror as we see now in Las Vegas, can... speak of^[각주:32] evil as a moral fact - even if they continue to deny moral facts in the classrooms and courtrooms^[각주:33]."

Another clear implication of the stress on "evil" is that there is no point trying to stop its effects through regulation. If evil is an inexorable^[각주:34] feature of a fallen^[각주:35] plane of^[각주:36] existence, one that has been tainted from^[각주:37] the very start of things by human sin, then no policy measures^[각주:38] will ever remove it. The only response to evil is to identify it clearly, to avoid secular soft-headedness^[각주:39], and perhaps to mitigate^[각주:40] its effects as and when^[각주:41] they arise^[각주:42], without presuming to^[각주:43] abolish it^[각주:44]. In other words, gun control^[각주:45] will not work. 

That is almost the opposite of the thinking that has prevailed among America's Catholic bishops for several decades^[각주:46]. According to a roundup by^[각주:47] Crux, a Catholic news service^[각주:48], as early as 1975 the nation's bishops were calling for a national firearms^[각주:49] policy that would make it harder to buy and use guns on impulse^[각주:50]. Last year Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas praised the gun-control initiatives of^[각주:51] President Barack Obama as a welcome change from^[각주:52] congressional^[각주:53] deference to^[각주:54] the "gun lobby".

In its most radical pronouncements^[각주:55], the Vatican under Pope Francis has shown sympathy for^[각주:56] the view that the "structural violence^[각주:57]" implicit in^[각주:58] unjust^[각주:59] and unequal^[각주:60] societies is as much to blame for gun deaths as any individual moral calculus^[각주:61]. The Pope has particularly condemned^[각주:62] the sale of weapons for profit^[각주:63], whether within countries or internationally, as a huge moral scourge^[각주:64]. 

Father James Martin, a Jesuit priest^[각주:65] who is editor-at-large of^[각주:66] America magazine, responded to the Las Vegas killings with a kind of prayer-poem that included the lines: 

"I am tired, God.

I'm tired of the unwillingness to^[각주:67] see this as^[각주:68] an important issue.

I'm tired of those in power^[각주:69] who work to prevent any real change. 

I'm tired of those who say that gun violence can't be reduced."

Either end of this religious-ideological spectrum^[각주:70] can go to funny extremes. An approach that puts overwhelming emphasis on^[각주:71] the structural or regulatory context of violence can leave itself open to^[각주:72] mockery^[각주:73] by seeming to deny that individuals have moral choices. But whatever you may think about the causes of badness in^[각주:74] the world, it seems manifestly^[각주:75] absurd to^[각주:76] suggest that the legislator^[각주:77] should not try, at least, to reduce the scope for^[각주:78] evil to prevail^[각주:79].

1. massacre ; [C , U] 1. 대학살 [본문으로]
2. cleric ; 1. (구식 또는 격식) 성직자 2. (종교의 종류에 상관없이) 종교 지도자 [본문으로]
3. horrific ; 1. 끔찍한, 무시무시한 [본문으로]
4. reflex response ; 반사적인 반응 ; (neurophysiology) The outcome carried out by the motor effector as a result of the reflex arc. [본문으로]
5. banal ; [형용사] (못마땅함) 지극히 평범한, 따분한, 시시한 ;; 미국·영국 [bə|nɑ:l;美또한|beɪnl] [본문으로]
6. state the obvious ; 당연한[말할 필요도 없는] 것을 말하다 [본문으로]
7. philosophical ; (또한 philo・soph・ic / -'sɑ:fɪk ; 美 -'sɑːfɪk /) 1. 철학의, 철학에 관련된 2. ~ (about sth) (호감) 달관한 듯한, 냉철한 [본문으로]
8. killing spree ; 단기연속살인 [본문으로]
9. term ; [흔히 수동태로] (격식) (특정한 이름・용어로) 칭하다[일컫다] [본문으로]
10. scriptural ; [형용사] [때로 S~] 성서 (중시(重視))의, 성서의 취지에 입각하는 [본문으로]
11. quote a verse ; 시의 한 행을 인용하다 [본문으로]
12. proclaim ; 2. (격식) 분명히 보여주다; …의 표시[징후]이다 [본문으로]
13. broken-hearted ; [형용사] 가슴이 미어질 듯한, 슬픔에 잠긴, 상심한; 실연한. [본문으로]
14. comforting ; [형용사] 위로가 되는 [본문으로]
15. passage ; 3. SECTION FROM BOOK | [C] (책의) 구절; (음악의) 악절 [본문으로]
16. declaration ; 1. [C , U] (정부나 단체의) 선언문[서]; 선언, 공표 [본문으로]
17. spokeswoman ; [명사] (pl. -wom·en[-wìmin]) 여성 대변인[연설가] [본문으로]
18. scriptural references ; 성전[경전] 참고 문헌 [본문으로]
19. seminary ; [명사] pl. -ies 신학대학 [본문으로]
20. influential ; [형용사] ~ (in sth/in doing sth) 영향력 있는, 영향력이 큰 [본문으로]
21. camp ; 5. GROUP OF PEOPLE | [C] (이상・주의를 견지하는) 진영 [본문으로]
22. biblical ; 1. 성서의, 성서 속의 [본문으로]
23. loving ; 1. 애정 어린, 다정한 [본문으로]
24. range in (on) ; (대포 따위가) …을 조준하다 [본문으로]
25. secular ; 1. 세속적인 [본문으로]
26. folk ; 1. [pl.] (folks 특히 美) (또한 비격식) (일반적인) 사람들 [본문으로]
27. infect ; 4. (특정한 감정을 갖도록) 물들이다[전염시키다] [본문으로]
28. moral relativism ; (심리학) 도덕적 상대주의(道德的相對主義); 도덕적 상대론 [본문으로]
29. fully ; 1. 완전히, 충분히 [본문으로]
30. glimmering ; 1. 가냘픈 빛, 희미한 빛, 명멸하는 빛, 미광 2. 어렴풋이 나타남, 기색 [본문으로]
31. reassure ; [동사] ~ sb (about sth) 안심시키다 [본문으로]
32. speak of ; …에 대해 말하다. [본문으로]
33. courtroom ; [명사] 법정 [본문으로]
34. inexorable ; [형용사] (격식) 과정이 멈출[변경할] 수 없는, 거침없는 ;; 미국·영국 [ɪn|eksərəbl] [본문으로]
35. fallen ; [형용사] (땅에) 떨어진[쓰러진], 타락한 [본문으로]
36. plane ; 3. (사고・존재・발달의) 차원[수준] [본문으로]
37. taint ; [타동사][VN] [흔히 수동태로] ~ sth (with sth) (격식) (평판 등을) 더럽히다, 오염시키다, 오점[오명]을 남기다 [본문으로]
38. policy measure ; (법률) 시책, 정책 방안, 정책 대안 [본문으로]
39. soft-headedness ; [명사] 어리석음, 멍청함. [본문으로]
40. mitigate ; [타동사][VN] (격식) 완화[경감]시키다 [본문으로]
41. as and when ; …하게 되는 대로 [본문으로]
42. arise ; (arose / ə'rəUz ; 美 ə'roUz / , arisen / ə'rIzn /), [v] 1. (비교적 격식) (특히 문제나 곤란한 상황이) 생기다, 발생하다 [본문으로]
43. presume ; 4. [V to inf] (격식) 주제넘게 굴다 [본문으로]
44. abolish ; [타동사][VN] (법률・제도・조직을) 폐지하다 [본문으로]
45. gun control ; [명사] (특히 美) 총기 규제법 [본문으로]
46. for several decades ; 수십 년 동안. [본문으로]
47. roundup ; 3. (뉴스 등의) 총괄 [본문으로]
48. news service ; 통신사(news agency), 뉴스(보도)배급회사(통신사). [본문으로]
49. firearms ; [명사] (소총, 권총 따위) 소형 화기. ;; 동의어 ; gun, rifle, pistol. [본문으로]
50. on[by] impulse ; 충동(적)으로 [본문으로]
51. initiative ; 1. [C] (특정한 문제 해결・목적 달성을 위한 새로운) 계획 [본문으로]
52. welcome change ; 반가운 변화. [본문으로]
53. congressional ; [형용사] (명사 앞에만 씀) 의회의; (미국) 의회의 [본문으로]
54. deference ; [U] 존중[경의](을 표하는 행동) ;; 미국∙영국 [|defərəns] [본문으로]
55. pronouncement ; [명사] ~ (on sth) (격식) 공표, 공포, 선언 [본문으로]
56. show sympathy for ; …에 대한 동정의 뜻을 표하다. [본문으로]
57. violence ; (정치학) <용어>구조적 권력 [본문으로]
58. implicit in ; …의 속에 함축된. [본문으로]
59. unjust ; [형용사] 부당한, 불공평한 [본문으로]
60. unequal ; 1. [주로 명사 앞에 씀] 불공평한 [본문으로]
61. moral calculus ; Generally, ethical calculus refers to any method of determining a course of action in a circumstance that is not explicitly evaluated in one's ethical code. A formal philosophy of ethical calculus is a development in the study of ethics, combining elements of natural selection, self-organizing systems, emergence, and algorithm theory. According to ethical calculus, the most ethical course of action in a situation is an absolute, but rather than being based on a static ethical code, the ethical code itself is a function of circumstances. The optimal ethic is the best possible course of action taken by an individual with the given limitations. While ethical calculus is, in some ways, similar to moral relativism, the former finds its grounds in the circumstance while the latter depends on social and cultural context for moral judgment. Ethical calculus would most accurately be regarded as a form of dynamic moral absolutism. [본문으로]
62. condemn ; 1. EXPRESS DISAPPROVAL | [타동사][VN] ~ sb/sth (for/as sth) (보통 도덕적인 이유로) 규탄[비난]하다 [본문으로]
63. for profit ; [형용사] <공공 기관·병원 등이> 영리 목적의, 이익을 추구하는 [본문으로]
64. scourge ; 1. [주로 단수로] ~ (of sb/sth) (격식) 재앙, 골칫거리 ;; 미국식 [skɜ:rdƷ] 영국식 [skɜ:dƷ] [본문으로]
65. Jesuit priest ; 예수회 수사 ;; 미국식 [|dƷeƷəwət] 영국식 [|dƷezjuɪt] [본문으로]
66. editor-at-large ; A journalist who contributes to a publication and has a certain amount of freedom in what he/she submits. [본문으로]
67. unwillingness ; [명사] 본의 아님, 자발적이 아님; 반항적임. [본문으로]
68. see sth as ; ~로 상상하다, 간주하다(=visualize, consider acceptable). [본문으로]
69. in power ; 권력의 자리에 있는, 정권을 쥐고 있는. [본문으로]
70. spectrum ; 3. [주로 단수로] (관련 특질・생각 등의) 범위[영역] [본문으로]
71. put[lay, place] emphasis[stress] on ; …을 강조하다, …에 역점을 두다. [본문으로]
72. leave sth open to ; 1. 개방된 채로 두다, ~의 대상이 되게 하다 [본문으로]
73. mockery ; 1. [U] 조롱, 조소 [본문으로]
74. badness ; [U] (도덕적으로) 나쁨 [본문으로]
75. manifestly ; [부사] 명백히, 분명하게, 일목요연하게. [본문으로]
76. absurd ; [형용사] 우스꽝스러운, 터무니없는 [본문으로]
77. legislator ; [명사] (격식) 입법자, 국회[의회]의원 [본문으로]
78. scope ; 2. [[U]] 여지(space), 기회, 배출구 ((for)) [본문으로]
79. prevail ; [v] 1. ~ (in/among sth) 만연[팽배]하다 [본문으로]