Response to NIU Shooting

It's very hard for me to imagine taking someone's life in any situation, despite the idea that there are situations which, unfortunately, warrant such violence. After events like these take place, I think we all find ourselves asking why. And everyone has an idea or belief about why such things take place. I always find myself thinking of Bowling for Columbine, I should add that I am not a huge fan of Michael Moore, and the questions it raises. Gun control, video games, primetime TV, religion even. The fact is that we live in a culture of fear perpetuated by, well, everything.

Of course, the first to respond to how we end violence like these attacks in high schools and universities attack gun control and violence in media. While I won't go so far as some and ask to outlaw guns, I will readily admit that I believe the NRA is of the most evil associations and that it is certain we would all benefit from much stricter gun laws. And for all the pocket-constitution carriers, I argue that those who wrote it were stooped in evil worse than even these school shootings and further never lived to see such violence played out in the name of nothing. And then you can't force me to believe that playing a video game gives someone the nerve to pull a real trigger, or take so many lives. CSI, Dexter, and Law and Order never give justification for entering a building and opening fire on innocents if anything most of them claim the opposite. Being "numb" to violence doesn't give people the will to incite it themselves.
    My Favorite is always those asking reasoning from god or claiming that his absence in someone'e life is the reason for such violence. How many lives have been claimed in the name of god, in religion? It's truly disturbing to see the distortion of a religion or faith to become a justification for death and murder. But seriously put down your bible and enter the real world. Religion stands for violence and I won't waste my time arguing that point, Christopher Hitchens does it much better.
    The truth is we live in a society that doesn't accept people as equals or even close to it. We live when greed and power rule all and people become so blind by their "ambition" that they perform horrible acts to achieve what they seek. Video games and crappy music and guns don't kill people, people do. Then they seek justification, for some it's religion and others it's fame, and most disppointing for a lot of these murderous rampages it's acceptance. Hate is bred out of ignorance and intolerance. Stop trying to blame everything that's so readily availabe and look deeper into our history books and our personal values and beliefs. If we as a society could accept those different from ourselves and maybe try to lift one another up instead of continuing to beat each other down we would see a change. If parents were more compitent and sought to teach their children values and morals we wouldn't have to be so afraid. And when we see a child that isn't given such opportunity we should take it upon ourselves to help the best we can.
     This realization is the scariest, there will always be people who kill. But if we could just stop trying so hard to blame something we don't like or agree with, it would be easy to see the real cause, the real why. I would actually encourage all people to watch Dexter, which has and will be blamed for violence in our society, because if you can get past the truly horrendous violence there's a message that should resonate within each of us. We should all live our lives by a moral code, one that readily accepts anyone as equal. I was a child once, and I wasn't the kindest, but I've realized how easily it was for me to hurt someone's feelings if I so chose. I still do it today, but I always seek to apologize. I readily assume their own position and seek to understand them, put myself in their shoes. It's relatively easy for me and has given me an outlook that I wish I could bestow upon all. Unfortunately, that probably isn't realistic. All I can do is help who I can, and hope that altruism will someday be our religion.