Disappointment

I am a 20 year old man, born and raised an American. Today I must say I am disappointed in the face of our nation.

Tragedy is not something to be twisted to the gain of anything. Not personal wealth, not agenda, not pride, not social status, not anything. The phrase "Never let a crisis go to waste" (Rahm Emanuel, former White House Chief of Staff to Obama and current Mayor of Chicago) should be treated as the evil it is.

Americans no longer really know how to deal with grief. Far too often we feel we must be seen to be doing something. Here is an excellent breakdown of exactly that. I beg of you, America, be willing to stand back and let the grief happen. Stop sticking your noses in it, stop trying to be seen doing something, stop.

Practically no Americans feel the full weight of the grief these families are experiencing. Some feel more than others. Some feel nothing at all, and feel worse about that than they do about the event. This event has been so publicized that everyone feels they should feel something. Just.... stop. Stop talking about it, stop thinking about it, stop moping about it. What's done is done. If the families need anything in the coming times, they will turn to trusted, close people. There is nothing we as Americans can do. We are doing harm by trying.

I want to call out a few particularly guilty parties. The media has had huge coverage of these killings in  recent days. Watch this. By glorifying these killers, plastering their faces and names over everything, you promote their behavior. A proper reaction to this is to strike their existence from the record. Do not publicize the killers name. Do not have a trial by media for him. This man (for I have to recant a statement in my last post. He is still human, and a child of God, for all that his actions are just about as evil as it is possible for a human to be) committed an act of evil, is dead, and will be taken to account for his actions. There's nothing more we can do to or about him. There's nothing to be done to help the families. There's a great deal of harm to be done by over-coverage. Just stop.

The number of corporations and businesses that have made certain public gestures in the past few days rather annoy me. Cerberus sold off the Freedom Group of firearms manufacturers. Cheaper Than Dirt temporarily suspended sale of firearms. Walmart pulled the Bushmaster brand from their shelves. There are others. These gestures are meaningless in the grand scheme of things, and just serve as publicity efforts. Matthew 6:5, "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward." If you feel compelled to do something, do it in secret. Do it in such a way that success is measured in how few people know you've done anything. THAT is service. That should be its own reward, if it is indeed a good thing you do.

President Obama, Joan Peterson, Diane Feinstein, and all others using this tragedy as an impetus for further gun control. Who the hell are you? You are manipulating this tragedy for the gain of your agenda. Tell me, would this attack have been any less evil had the killer used a gasoline or propane bomb? ANFO? A knife? A sword? A sharpened stick? Rocks? Evil is evil, and it will not be stopped by the laws of men. The tool is irrelevant to the will behind it. Stop dancing in blood.

Those on the other side of the argument, using this as further evidence of the need for armed teachers, armed guards, etc. you are equally reprehensible. If you can conclusively show that had there been an armed person in that school, then the attack wouldn't have happened, then we can talk. The fact that I agree with the theory does not change the fact that you too are guilty of dancing in blood.

Read this. That monster can be extended to all of humanity. There is evil in the world. It's part of what allows there to be good in the world. To shy away, to pretend it isn't there and will always be there for as long as humanity is humanity is foolish and naive. Pull it out. Face it as an individual. Come to grips with the fact that this world is not and cannot be perfect until the end of days. Figure out how you, my gentle reader, are going to deal with it. I get the feeling many of you already have, by the merit of my readership base.

Stop making this into a national issue. A tragedy befell a single community, though it hurts us all in different ways. Do not make this into more than it is.

Note: my personal religious sentiment does appear in this piece, though I endeavor to keep it largely secular and available to everyone. If you disagree with my religion, it does not mean you have to disagree with my larger point.