I'm writing about the common misconceptions and obnoxious opinions about the shootings that took place at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut on Friday morning.
First, I want to make it very very clear that no matter how smartassed I get in this post, I in no way take this tragedy lightly. The more I read about it, the more confused and flustered I get. I am truly bewildered by the events that occurred, and my heart goes out to the families who lost children and the children who lost friends and teachers.
That being said... I'm about to piss some people off. AND GO.
1. Taking away an American's right to bare arms would have prevented this.
"Wendi," Derpina states, "If guns were illegal, that man wouldn't have had a gun." FALSE. I don't understand why people think making guns illegal will make them go away. Heroine is illegal. Cocain is illegal. Prostitution is illegal. Marijuana is illegal (in most states.). Shooting people in most circumstances is illegal. And do these things not exist? OF COURSE THEY DO. People do illegal drugs, pay for sex with prostitutes, and shoot people every day. Sometimes even at the same time. Likewise: If guns were illegal, they would not go away. Law breakers would have guns. And non law breakers would not have guns to protect themselves from people with guns. Sure, not everybody in the country needs to be armed. But, if that secretary had a glock in her desk drawer, the situation would have ended very abruptly. I'm not saying that is the right answer either, but its true.
2. I don't get why everyone is making a big deal about this. They won't care in like a week.
This one is strange to me. This opinion seems to state that people are only justified in being sad about this if they are sad about it forever. I don't even understand where the logic in that is. Almost thirty human beings died at the hands of one man in the same venue. Twenty of which were children. If that doesn't make your stomach curl just a little bit, where is your humanity? And of course people aren't going to be sad about it forever. That isn't normal mental health behavior. There is a balance of sympathy to give, and then moving on. People get emotional about this because, it could have happened anywhere. It could have been their kid. It could have been their mom teaching. Just like with the Batman Movie shooting earlier this summer. It could have happened anywhere. It could have been the movie theatre you're best friend went to. People get emotional because this is a very real horror story. I don't think anyone is not justified to be upset when this kind of thing happens. But there will come a time when people move on. Most of us will keep up with the story as it develops, and move on in a few weeks. That is okay. Some people will send cards to strangers who lost their children just to let them know that they sympathize. Some people have to bury their children next week, and that will take more time than I could ever imagine to heal. And that is okay too (as far as mental health is concerned. Not okay that it happened... You get the idea).
My personal Favorite:
3. The reason God didn't protect those children is because the atheists want God out of schools.
I can't even begin to express how idiotic this one is. I actually saw it more than once in my newsfeed. 1st, the Christians that post this make God sound like a whiney 6-year-old. "Well. I woulda been there for those kids... I coulda been there for those kids. But, the Atheists won't let me be in schools, so I turned my back on those children and let them die." That is not at all what the God I was taught about would have done, and if you think he would, why do you worship him? The God I was raised to know had a perfectly good reason for this (Although I can't possibly imagine one good enough.). 2nd, Some Christians (please, for the love of everything good in the world, note that I said some) seem to think that Atheists are trying so hard to take everything away from them. Some Christians get so offended when people try to include all beliefs and say, "Happy Hollidays," instead of "Merry Christmas." Some Christians think "In God We Trust" NEEDS to be on our American Currency, and they seem to think that taking it away would severly deAmericanize the dollar, when "In God We Trust," wasn't added to paper currency until 1957. Just like "Under God" in the pledge of allegance. That phrase was not added until the 1950s. But if anyone mentions taking those words away, some Christians will act like the founding fathers are cringing in their graves. Some Christians have this extreemly personal vendetta against Atheists. Like, Atheism means a large group of people who sit around wringing their hands together concocting the next big scheme to ruin every Christian's day. It is really trivial.
Could I have prevented this? No. Would more or less guns have prevented this? Probably not. Would God have prevented this? Obviously not. This is something that has happened, and something that has seriously rattled this country, and is something we have to deal with. What do we do now? I don't know. But I do know that placing blame on people with beliefs different than our own is not going to bring those kids back. Blaming pro gunners won't take guns out of other whacko's hands. Blaming anti gunners won't put a glock in every school secretary's desk. Blaming Atheists won't bring about miracles. Blaming God won't bring those kids back either. Instead of pointing fingers, why don't we look, instead to our own lives. Is there anyone you know that could stand a little compassion? Is there anyone you know who might need a couple rounds of Therapy? Or even for you to just seriously listen to them, their story, and their problems? The people who commit these kinds of massacres are in need of a lot of mental help. America doesn't need to take a stand for or against guns or God because of this. America needs to take a stand against mental illness. From the most mild of depressions to the most extreme and dangerous Manias. People that need help should get it. Period.
THAT'S MY PIECE. This started out as an "I'm Annoyed!" status. Then I realized I had so much to say. BAM. There it is. My heart is sad for the parents that lost their children yesterday. My heart is sad for the community that will forever be remembered as the town where twenty children were shot in school one day. My heart is sad for every person with a mental illness that cannot get help. My heart is sad for the person who felt so alone, so unwanted, so unloved, so beyond help that he choose to make this his final legacy.
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