The killing of 27 people is the latest in a long list of atrocities that people are doing against others. We are hearing that it is because of taking God out of public usage or that it that guns are readily available; but is that really the causes? I do not think so; the problem goes deeper and is more complex.
Our society has gotten more violent over the last decades. This shows not only in the movies and TV programs we see now to how our government resorts to violence to solve political disputes overseas. When I was a kid, you did not see cartoons where people were killing people or hurting them, you saw animals doing it, ie: wiley coyote, mighty mouse, heckle and jeckle. Yes, Batman and other super heroes were around, but their foes were clearly bad guys. Our heroes back then were the guys who wore white hats; Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and others. Today, our heroes are drug taking, dog beating athletes or music recorders who promote violence, not to drink milk.
Gang activity was left to the mafia for the most part when I was young, though there were some ethnic gangs in the big cities. You never heard of gangs in small towns like in today’s world.
Our government has gone from diplomacy to buying friends and sending in bombs if another country disagrees with us too strongly. While we used to be known as a good country willing to help others, now we are the international bully.
Kids in my generation might have guns at home to hunt with and had imitation guns to play cowboys and Indians or cops and robbers. We were taught not to point a real gun at anyone. Nowdays, though those toys are still available, many parents do not want their kids to have them, so kids are not learning about gun safety at home.
Our society has become such that the nuclear family is no more for the most part. Spouses are disposable and having kids has become a way to obtain unconditional love for our teenagers. Single parents, stretched to breaking points due to the high cost of living, no longer have time to teach kids the basics of societal living. Furthermore, our society has become so dangerous that kids are not allowed to play outside, who is there to monitor them, mom and dad are working to try to afford houses and cars that they really do not need or can pay for.
Civility has gone out the window in today’s society. If you do not agree with someone, you are stupid, ignorant, a liberal, radical, or just a jerk. Flaming abounds on social networking sites as does pornographic photos and sayings where women are disrespected openly. Even our politicians are not to be looked up too with safety; they are having affairs, taking bribes or promoting violence as a way to solve problems. Strangely, people have become depersonalized to other people; they are an avatar on a website or just a line of text.
People with mental illnesses are given silver bullet pills and sent on their way do to budget cuts for mental health care. People are not held to any sort of responsibility for their actions; oh poor Johnny, he had ADD so cannot control himself, give him a pill not give him a swat and make him mind. When Johnny grows up, he is an out of control adult with some real mental health issues; no one cares until he picks up a gun and kills people.
Is it because God is not in the public any more or less than before? Where are the parents and preachers who should be teaching kids at home and church the lessons about societal living found in the Bible or other religious works. Are the preachers teaching love thy neighbor or kill those who do not believe the way they do. Are parents so busy keeping up with the latest trends in goods that they cannot teach their kids to behave without calling in The Nanny then televising it as a reality show?
Finally, guns do not kill people people kill people. Remove guns and other ways will be found to do carnage unless the underlying problem is solved. The same day as the shootings in CT, in China, someone took a knife and stabbed 22 kids and one adult, no one died. Pundits covering the CT shooting used this as a good thing to happen, because a gun was not used so, according to them, no one died; they could have. Mcvey took down the Murry building in Oklahoma with fertilizer and diesel fuel, the 9/11 terrorists used planes and box cutters, the fire in Bengazi was started with a molitov cocktail it is thought.
If people want to kill other people, they will find a way. What we need to do is correct the underlying problems to stop this type of thing from happening. We need to start taking responsibility for our own actions and teach the youngsters we come in contact with to do the same. We need to look at our kids and our family and friends objectively and watch for signs of possibility to do violence then intervene. Furthermore, we need to force our government to start using diplomacy instead of bombs to correct political issues saving the bombs only to protect our own borders.
My thoughts and prayers go out to those who have lost children to violence…and to those poor souls who are so tormented that they take those precious lives.
Sandylong1953's Blog 