I had a very differnet post planned for today. I was going to write about Batman, and how the Little Man was so excited about it that he actually wanted to go to see it in the theater. This is a big deal, because of all the sensory overload that it can bring. We even joked yesterday that if I wasn’t so old we would go to the midnight show at our local cinema. I wonder how many of those conversations happened yesterday with the movie goers in Aurora, CO?
Waking up to the news that there was another mass shooting, that more people died for a senseless reason is just awful. There are no good reasons to kill another-remember we are commanded to not do that-and the fact that, we as humans, are seeing this explode worldwide is sickening. Dozens shot in Colorado, at a movie. A bus of Israeli tourists targeted in Bulgaria. Syria. The world is seething with tension all over the place.
Something to put in perspective: one weekend recently (June 25) in Chicago saw 40 people shot and 4 died. To date, Seattle has seen their murder rate double since the start of this year, and Philadelphia (also known as Killadelphia for their consistently high crime) has seen its murder rate in 2012 go up another 23% from last year. These are statistics from the Huffington Post, which never made their front page (it was all on the local city pages).
Violence, it seems, is a fact of life in 21st Century America.
That, my dear friends, is unacceptable.
There are as many reasons why these crimes happen as there are perpetrators, but they all boil down to one thing:
Human life is extremely undervalued.
I try to teach my son that we are all precious in God’s sight, and that no matter what, violence is never the answer.
In these mass killings, in many cases, the perpetrator had an underlying behavioral health issue. Looking at the school killings that exploded in the 1990’s (or maybe the advent of the 24 hour news cycle brought it to our attentions)-in most cases, the shooter had peer relationship issues, many were referred to counseling or therapy, some were on medication but not closely monitored. Time will tell if the shooter in Aurora CO has mental health needs, but statistically it is likely. This incident may be a time to seriously talk about it. There is no shame in mental illness-its an illness, after all. Would you tell someone with cancer to buck it up and deal? Or tell an asthmatic that its all in their heads? Behavioral health needs to have the same parity with other diseases-and patients have access to care and ongoing treatment. The mentally ill are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, delay seeking medical care for minor illnesses, and have a more difficult time with school, work and relationships. Several estimates place the number of mentally ill homeless at 50% of those currently on the streets. The costs to society are staggering-and they will not go away.
My heart breaks for those affected by the shootings this morning in Colorado-for the victims, the witnesses, the first responders, and their families. But my heart also breaks for those who live with this level of violence every day in Chicago, Philadelphia, Seattle, Damascus, Jerusalem and where ever else violence rules the day. May we all come together in peace and love
Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity. Margaret D. Nadauld
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