Commentary

As the country mourns the tragic Newtown shootings that saw 20 children killed, many are wondering what made Adam Lanza pull the trigger.

For some, it was the gun itself, and many have blamed the NRA and the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

Well folks, the world didn’t end. I like the way our D.C. editor said it best, “So turns out it wasn’t the end of the world as we know it. Apparently the ancient Mayans went to the Harold Camping School of False Prophecy. Back to work, people. Nothing to see here.”

As I was driving home this evening from a massive amount of errands, the song “Little Drummer Boy” by Jars of Clay came on the radio. This is far from my favorite Christmas song, but the words came to a deeper meaning this particular holiday.

At 6:30 a.m., two members of Westminster UCC climbed to the base of the church's bell tower and rang the historic bell 26 times to remember those killed in the Newtown shooting.

Westminster joined churches across the nation in this memorial.

The horrible killings of last Friday in Newtown, Conn. instantly elicited a huge range of responses, as it should. It is a tribute to our collective psyche that we continue to be shocked, outraged, stunned by such events. In spite of their frequency we are not yet inured to them, but their frequency is growing. 

The U.S. Catholic bishops’ opposition to national health care legislation mandating contraception coverage was ranked the No. 1 Religion Story of 2012 by members of the Religion Newswriters Association.

Related to the top story, the top religion newsmaker was Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, who became the point man for Catholic objections to required coverage of contraception, sterilization and morning after drugs in Obamacare.