Another shooting. This time, at least 14 killed at a Southern California social services center. Many more wounded by as many as three gunmen reportedly wearing military-style gear. The Wednesday massacre comes just five days after a lone gunman opened
Another shooting. This time, at least 14 killed at a Southern California social services center. Many more wounded by as many as three gunmen reportedly wearing military-style gear.
The Wednesday massacre comes just five days after a lone gunman opened fire at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado and killed three. And this after the attacks in Paris.
Daily, it seems, we hear about killings and shootings and stabbings across this nation and around the world. The suspects are young and old. So troubled by life, so unhappy, so filled with anger, so brainwashed by the wrong people, their solution is to inflict pain and death on those around them, even those they have never met.
The questions arise: Will these random, senseless acts of violence continue? Will they escalate? Why are they happening? What can we do about it?
There will be more people calling for more gun control laws, with the argument being, if it were more difficult to own guns, at least high-powered ones, there wouldn’t be so many killings. There will be more people opposing gun control, arguing that Americans have a God-given right to own a gun and if more people had guns, they could protect themselves, even those around them, in case of a shooting like this one in San Bernardino.
There will be more people saying we shouldn’t be surprised such things happen, not when you consider the popularity of video games, TV shows and movies that depict so much violence. Children, they will say, are raised in a society that encourages survival of the fittest. We hear stories of kids being bullied in schools, no one did anything about it, and the victims, in desperation, finally reaching a breaking point.
And there will be those who argue we have become a society without morals, without a compass of right and wrong, where everything is acceptable, where all opinions are equally valid (except, ironically, religious conservatives, who are labeled intolerant and hateful), so naturally, the result is some misguided people.
And these shootings go on and most of us don’t know what to do about them, perhaps even believing there is nothing we can do about them. It’s reached the point, too, Americans have become used to these shootings and, not surprisingly and sadly, have become apathetic about it. Mass shootings have become a normal part of everyday life that we accept as part of a free society. One week there’s a shooting and many die and the next week, the stores and malls are busy with holiday shoppers seeking gifts for relatives. That’s life as we know it now.
This can be and is some days a hard, mean, cruel world where you just shake your head and wonder, what the hell is going on. And there are days it’s so beautiful and filled with joy and acts of kindness, you wonder, why can’t it be like this, always?
If only we knew.
So what we will say is this: Love one another. Try to show you care. Not just your family, your friends and your neighborhoods, but those you pass every day at the store, at the beach, at school and at the restaurant. Yes, that’s a pretty simplistic viewpoint, to think being nice to people of different politics, religions and ideologies that have divided countries for centuries could create peace. Right. Better people have tried. Like just saying hello and waving at a stranger will change the world. No, of course it won’t. Then again, maybe it will. It’s something any of us can do. But will we?
