The reason why I have postponed writing about this incident in a blog (if you read my blog, then you will notice that I wrote angrily about society's intensive focus on pop culture when they should be focusing on the welfare of students the day of the Ohio school shooting) is because I didn't know what to think. I didn't know how to react. I am ashamed to admit it.
I, of course, felt fear, deep sadness, concern, confusion, anger, and then once again sadness. But feeling these things was not enough. It had to matter to me. I am from the Midwest. Connecticut is pretty far from where I'm standing. I am nationally affected, humanly affected, maternally affected, but I am not personally affected by this incident. Or so I thought.
The public nature of this crime has done two things: 1) It has brought people together (or apart if you're Brian Fisher, Mike Huckabee, or the Westboro Baptist Church. But screw them. Anybody who presumes that God's message is to hate someone into nonexistence or that He allows bad things to happen because they remind us that we shouldn't stray from His side is stupid.). People from all over the nation are banding together to try and comfort those who need it. Between Superstorm Sandy and this shooting, there are so many who need our help. A local radio station and a local dry-cleaning business are teaming up to gather teddy bears, night lights, and blankets to give to children they don't even know who have been affected by these disasters. I am so proud and will do my part to help out.
But the 2nd thing that the media has done is that this massacre has been mounted on a pedestal and raised for everyone to see. People who are mentally unstable or maybe just uncontrollably angry have been given new ideas. Copycats, or those who try to copy a crime, have risen to a new level, as they always do after such publicized atrocities. Threats to schools have gone up exponentially and arrests are being made all over the United States to prevent movie theater shootings (like the one in Colorado on the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises) and school shootings and bombings. Facebook posts and Tweets that even suggest at a desire to follow in the shoes of the murderers are leading policemen to guns and arms stashes. While this may seem like a good thing, one has to wonder, how long have these people been hoarding the guns? What were they planning on doing with them before this shooting? What if these guns hadn't been found? How serious are they?
Now. I am immensely proud at our government's response to this issue. Regardless of the speculations of the motives of the murderer, every member of congress and every staff member in the Capitol believe that something needs to be done. So far, the talk has been good, progressive, hopeful. They talk about making laws that understand the complexity of the arms business but that also reduce the possibility for violence against others. It is my hope now that, in light of recent events, Democrats and Republicans do away with their binary and work as a cohesive body to prevent further incidents.
So why does it matter to you? Because those crazies are out there. You don't always know one when you see one, but they are always there, with their trigger happy fingers and their meandering incoherent motives. So I urge you to experience what I experienced, a personal vindication to help those who have been traumatized and to be on constant vigilance. It never hurts to be ready.
If you are interested in more than what I've talked about (which is a very limited scope, I admit) then I highly suggest you read more. The usual picture that I paste down below is not just a picture this time, but a link to an article that is attempting to correct a wildly untrue rumor, that the reason behind the shooter's actions was the simple fact that he was mentally ill. The shooter had autism, true, but autism does not cause violence. A mental illness does not cause violence. Mental illness simply inhibits development and, if one is not trained correctly and patiently to deal with the inhibitions in a constructive manner, then violent outbursts may result. As you continue to read, I recommend that you keep an open mind and an open heart. Everyone is deserving of compassion, especially those we find hardest to give it to.
http://healthland.time.com/2012/12/19/guilt-by-associationtroubling-legacy-of-sandy-hook-may-be-backlash-against-children-with-autism/
P.S. Looking at the news right now, between this and the storms and the so-called "fiscal cliff", it seems so hard to seem happy right now. But remember, it is Christmas. Christmas is a time for rebirth and celebration. It is a time for hope. It is a time for peace. It is a time for prayer. As such, my prayers are that the families involved in this incident can pass peacefully through their grief and can begin to live again in a way that is hopeful and full of the light that all life deserves. I pray that, instead of focusing on why the shooter did such a horrendous act, on the terror and trauma the kids have been through, on the waste of young life, we can look at the adults who lived and died so that their students would be safe. Just because there are bad people in the world, we don't have to stop believing in the good ones.
