Thursday, April 19, 2007

Saying it doesn't make it so!



This is a hard piece to write, because like so many others, I begin with an idea and today I have so many ideas that I have to ignore some. I feel compelled to write about the Virginia Tech Massacre and how it seems to what I see as a symptom of the social mental disease of intolerance that is a self fueling cycle that America creates it's problems with.
The day after the massacre, I visited Whatwouldbobbleheadedjesusdo and the blogmiester, Steve had posted a piece expressing his shock, outrage and attempt at finding some kind of answer.
I had read some other blogs, Historymike and a few others and it seems like the first people to have all the answers were the rabid christians, who all were ready to say it was a result of Americas acceptance of homosexuality, Abortion and its sinful ways. One actually said that this was gods punishment for our wickedness.
This makes no sense to me. I see the secular countries of Europe, where there has been a real effort to keep religion out of the daily life of the country, and there is of course the rare violent incident but nothing compared to the regular horrors committed by armed maniacs in America. The Virginia Tech Massacre happened a few days after the 4 year mark of the Columbine High School Massacre. In the last 20 years, there has been one incident like this in France and it occurred when a government employee walked into the Administration building in Nancy and took the Mayor and most of the Municipal Council before shooting himself a few years ago.
Why is America so different? I dared to say that it was not Americas tolerance of evil that was the problem, but its traditions of intolerance!
I'm not saying by a long shot that the perpetrators of the massacres that occur in America just needed understanding. It's deeper, America has a social culture that creates loners, people can feel totally cut off in the middle of a huge city. None of this is distinctly American, but when you look at the kids who committed the Columbine Massacre, you see two loners who came together and became more alone. There was an education system that tolerated their alienation without any support system and tolerated the deepening pit of their madness by allowing them to be totally ostracized by their peers. They created their own world of pain and hate and vengeance.
We are deadened by the violence we tolerate and demand for our entertainment. We are enured to violence by the sanitary reportage of the carnage of war. We scream for vengeance and blood at the drop of a hat. Our children play video games that are obsessed with killing and mayhem unthinkable a few years ago. There was even a christian video game that involved killing unbelievers on the streets of New York!

We have made it a lot easier to cut the bond with reality and slip into this murderous psychotic fugue. We live in a culture fueld by the language of hate, turn on CNN or any talk radio station and listen to the right wing maniacs spew hatred and violence against anyone who is ideologically apposed to them. Do I have to even name names? Children are taught to hate outsiders of all descriptions, immigrants, non believers, homosexuals...You might say that you don't mean to have them hate these people, but the effect of non stop propaganda on a young mind works differently that you might envision.
It is time to step back from the abyss and look at ourselves if introspection is an alternative any more. We say we are a tolerant nation. Saying it does not make it so.
I have already been told by Barb that my opinions are enabling homosexual mass murderers to start on a rampage....so you don't need to say it dear, I said it for you, try to say something that creates peace and understanding!

4 comments:

Barb said...

I don't believe I blamed the Va.Tech tragedy on our national sins of abortion, etc. I don't think that way. Find it if I said it. I went to History Mike's blog and didn't run into any comments to that effect--not that I read everything. I did write somewhere that evil comes from within our hearts (Jesus said it) --external factors aggravate --but we are ultimately responsible for our hatred and violence. We have choices. I did say that "evil is afoot...." all over the world--and referenced the suicide bombers as other examples.

This young man was very troubled, obviously, and very alienated. The lesson is to take these people who are showing extreme weirdness seriously and get their parents to commit them --at least. But it is so hard to exercise authority, parental or institutional, over someone like him --until he actually acts out --and in this case, it was too late.

Since you brought me up, I do think those who want to censor the preachers and bloggers on the teachings of the bible are the most intolerant. Those who call bible-believers bigots --are themselves being bigots. They hate people like me for simply saying I believe the Bible is true about sexual morality. I think the rhetoric against us who believe this IS dangerous in its intensity and can motivate weirdos to violence. Some climb right up into the tree and start lobbing mudballs my way --just because I say the bible is true. And some scream, in effect, that I am hateful --like a racist --(therefore do I deserve violence against myself? bigotry against myself? I'm not the change agent trying to force something new like gay marriage on society.)

You should have listed Christians/bible-believers in your list of people children are being taught to hate. Besides the Jews, who else is among the most persecuted people on the planet? Christians. Go to the Voice of the Martyrs website. One of the Columbine killers asked a girl if she believed in God --she said yes and he killed her.

I don't know how Muslims treat the homosexuals, but they get pretty violent with Christians and anyone who disagrees with them even within their faith. American Christians, on the other hand, are not advocating either hatred or violence toward gays. I said it before and here it is again--I can socialize as a friend with homosexuals; they won't do it with me because I believe the Bible about their lifestyle. Is their intolerance of my views, any worse than my disagreement with theirs? I tolerate but I don't agree. They don't agree --and they also don't tolerate, can't be kind or friendly to, those who disagree.

"Come now, let us reason together...."

ohdave said...

MD,

I have a post up on the issue from a school point of view that you might be interested in.

microdot said...

Barb, the comment I referred to on History Mike was in the first piece he posted...it was the first response. It echoed a thread I have seen all over the web as well.
I know you are upset that my world does not revolve around you, I read the writings of other christian zealots as well with fascinated horror.

Barb said...

You mentioned me in the article, so I assumed your remarks about the so-called zealots probably included me. There is a tendency to think all liberals think alike and all conservatives or evangelicals as well.

I like to find common ground when I can, don't you? and clear up misconceptions as well.