Our constitutional system is defined by a balance between the public's need for transparency and the government's need to have a zone of secrecy around decision making. Both are important, yet they are mutually exclusive.
The senseless killing of 20 children and their teachers and principal at Sandy Hook Elementary School was not part of God's grand plan. It was a thwarting of God's plan. It was the misuse of human freedom.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The tragic events at Sandy Hook were not divinely orchestrated but resulted from human choices that betray a higher moral order.
In this quote, Adam Hamilton reflects on the devastating tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, arguing that such senseless violence is not a manifestation of a divine plan but rather a distortion of human free will. By asserting that the actions leading to this tragedy do not align with God's intentions, Hamilton emphasizes the moral responsibility that comes with freedom and highlights the importance of recognizing the impact of human choices on the world.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a community meeting about school safety, this quote can provide insight into the importance of responsibility in preventing violence.
Similar quotes
Everyone remembers his past with greater vividness as the present becomes more important. Dying men in their last delirium are supposed to see their whole life spread out before them.
I am entitled to say, if I like, that awareness exists in all the individual creatures on the planet-worms, sea urchins, gnats, whales, subhuman primates, superprimate humans, the lot. I can say this because we do not know what we are talking about: consciousness is so much a total mystery for our own species that we cannot begin to guess about its existence in others.
There are people who think that plunder loses all its immorality as soon as it becomes legal. Personally, I cannot imagine a more alarming situation.
Shortly, the public will be unable to reason or think for themselves. They'll only be able to parrot the information they've been given on the previous night's news.
It takes billions of years to create a human being. And it takes only a few seconds to die.