A spuriously-identified gunman opened fire on the campus of a Newtown, Conn. elementary school today, killing 27 and wounding three others in what is being described as the second most deadly school shooting in the US after the Virginia Tech massacre. It's too early to say anything truly poignant - to offer blame or propose new ideas. It's hard enough to conceive of the event in anything other than abstract terms.
Somone today was hurt badly enough that they felt it was necessary to murder their brother, drive to the next town over, and kill their own mother in front of her elementary class. Someone today was hurt badly enough that children - the last taboo of the west, became valid targets. I can understand these things happening in a high school, or a university, but not in an elementary school.
There is too much violence in our culture, too much grudgery in our culture, and I can understand that. There isn't enough, not nearly enough, forgiveness in our culture, and we can do something about that. I don't yet know why this man did this, but I do know he wasn't born wanting to do this.
We all need to sit, I think, and speak.
Somone today was hurt badly enough that they felt it was necessary to murder their brother, drive to the next town over, and kill their own mother in front of her elementary class. Someone today was hurt badly enough that children - the last taboo of the west, became valid targets. I can understand these things happening in a high school, or a university, but not in an elementary school.
There is too much violence in our culture, too much grudgery in our culture, and I can understand that. There isn't enough, not nearly enough, forgiveness in our culture, and we can do something about that. I don't yet know why this man did this, but I do know he wasn't born wanting to do this.
We all need to sit, I think, and speak.
Everyone is victims. Those innocent people died out there. Including the shooter himself, maybe he suffered psychologically for a long time that he crossed the line, although that does not say what he did is right. Everyone needs serious counsellings sometimes.
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