I don’t know about any of you, but recent events have hit me hard. I’m oversensitive in general and even though I don’t know anyone who’s been affected, just hearing about twenty children losing their lives makes me want to burst into tears. Since I’m too emotional to get the words out right, I’ll just say two things:
1. Guns are pointless. You can call it self-defense but that’s just sugar-coating the reality. They are designed to hurt as quickly and brutally as possible and there are far better, safer ways to protect yourself.
2. The reason these tragedies happen is NOT because “God has left America”. Just because people aren’t religious doesn’t mean they are evil and just because people are religious doesn’t mean they are good. The people who do these types of things are evil because they have no value of human life, and I don’t even think God could teach them that.
That’s all. I hope everyone you love is safe and well.
I completely agree with you on all counts, except that I don't really believe in "evil" per se. I'm not religious at all, in fact I'm a non-believer, but I'm certainly not evil. And a lot of "evil" has been done in the name of religion, not to say that all religion is bad. All religions to me have good intentions, but there are bad people who twist the "rules" of their belief systems for their own reasons. I believe this guy was sick in the head and it's a tragedy all around that he wasn't assessed and treated in time to prevent this awful tragedy.
ReplyDeleteHonestly I believe evil is as evil does...
DeleteWe know someone that has been affected...
ReplyDeleteI'm way sensitive myself, which it why I've been avoiding the news as much as possible. I grieve for those who lost someone, but it won't help them if I spend my time focused on their pain.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I haven't said much and I won't say much about this. Not because I don't care. I do. But there's nothing I can say that will make this better in any way.
I've been trying to avoid the gun issue as much as my opinionated self will allow: I think it's a simple truth that people will try to hurt one another either way and we'd be better off if they couldn't create such mass destruction...but even if we outlawed all sales and manufacturing today, it wouldn't take away the millions in circulation right now.
ReplyDeleteThe mental health issue is the area I'd more like to see worked out. Parents are seeing their kids in trouble, going for help and being told things like "If he commits a crime, we can get him into the system." It shouldn't be that way.
In English we're actually studying Lord of the Flies and debating about whether or not man is inherently good or evil. Man has a sinful nature, but we also have the ability to have a heart. Some people just can't suppress their natural evilness, and that's where I think the problem comes from. But either way, what happened is really sad, and my prayers go out to everyone.
ReplyDeletePeople are capable of acts of the worst cruelty... and the deepest compassion. One of the many ironies about humanity.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a few days now, and it's still weighing heavily on the mind.
There are many root causes for what happened in Newtown, some of which we'll never know, but to stand back and do nothing about them- access to mental health and actual responsible laws and regulations for guns- is unacceptable.