The nation is casting a lot of stones because of and toward Jared Loughner. Outrage, hyperbole, rash charges and hysteria have been both reported and exhibited by the media. Loughner has been called monster, sicko, mentally ill, evil, soulless, poorly raised, neglected, let down, demonically possessed.
The last few days of reading headlines could be summarized, perhaps, with this one:
I'm pondering exactly why this one hit home. Anger Abides.
There are three major theories or categories of blame for Loughner.
One: Psychological Disorder
If Jared Lee Loughner is suffering from a mental illness, should we be treating him rather than screaming at him?
That is, some who have seen his face say he is "crazy."
Those assessing his legal defense will say he was "insane" (a legal term).
Psychologists who would plumb his mind will find he is suffering from a mental disorder;
some trying to see his soul say he is "possessed."
In this case-- a homo sapiens creature with an illness-- shouldn't our national conversation be about our mental health system? How might we be better neighbors, good Samaritans to those in need? Getting angry at a sick person seems weird.
Two: Moral Failing; Evil, Mortal Sin
If Jared Loughner is guilty of a moral offense against humanity and Divinity,
why are we astonished and gnashing our teeth? President Obama (in his speech at the Memorial in Tucson) reminded us that there is evil in the world and that we will never be able to eradicate it. If you react to this with the true horror of Jared Loughner's sin, why are you not in a frenzy over the sins of others every day?
There are thousands of murders* every year to pick from, some involving torture and grotesque sexual violence--some too sad to hear...
perhaps too gruesome even for Hollywood--
So,
with a Virginia Tech every four days** --are you walking around angry at everybody's sins?
[BTW, Does the media pick and choose a story and tell us how to emote every 48 hours?]
What purpose, Anger, at the sins of certain folks? GET ANGRY and Throw some stones! ?
unless- are you angry at those who have given the example of how to commit violent sins?
are you angry at systems or environmental elements that are teaching, cleverly, our children how to commit sin with Impunity? But whaddaya gonna do about it? *
A third category-
-if one does not believe
such faithy stuff:
sin, goodness as divine, life everlasting,
absolute good or evil; eternal truths, the preservation of you and your personality for eternity (really?)
but rather choose a
soulless but
Mathematically Elegant Evolution of DNA survival--
one might choose
to Stone someone
at least
to eliminate bad genes in the pool. (should be required, Actually, along with all actions that Get Rid of the Horrible Things. Quit putting energy and resources into those who are taking more than they give to the collective. Doy. Sentimental much?)
This third way
may allow for anger-- toward Loughner,
as he has not played by the rules. He might not have "chosen" to be mentally disturbed, but he "should" have gotten help- instead he acted out violence for some reason; this needs to Stop. or be stopped.
anger toward others:
rationally, logically find out the reasons, search the environment, find why our pseudo quasi utopia is being marred by this guy or his parents or those who influenced him. Get angry at whoever or whatever is behind all this [temporary] pain.
This third way, where Molecules are king---
soon we are all dead (molecules dispersed) and nothing remains, no pain, no memory.
Really, this moment, we're just gelatinous masses of noisy eaters bouncing around the planet, ingesting, uniting, yeilding, laughing, building, hitting, killing. Get over it. Values are relative. Hitler was simply making provisions for his dna. Don't be mad at him, or Jared, they are just blipping into existence for a minute; then they are gone. Happy eternity.
We Reap What We Sow
**Bob Herbert says that "The overwhelming majority of the people who claim to be so outraged by last weekend’s shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and 19 others — six of them fatally — will take absolutely no steps, none whatsoever, to prevent a similar tragedy in the future. And similar tragedies are coming as surely as the sun makes its daily appearance over the eastern horizon because this is an American ritual: the mowing down of the innocents. On Saturday, the victims happened to be a respected congresswoman, a 9-year-old girl, a federal judge and a number of others gathered at the kind of civic event that is supposed to define a successful democracy. But there are endless horror stories. In April 2007, 32 students and faculty members at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute were shot to death and 17 others were wounded by a student armed with a pair of semiautomatic weapons...“As far as young people are concerned, we lose the equivalent of the massacre at Virginia Tech about every four days.”
*Murder:
9110 committed in USA in 1960
15,241committed in USA in 2009
From wikipedia
"An estimated 520,000 people were murdered in 2000 around the globe.
Two-fifths of them were young people between the ages of 10 and 29 who were killed by other young people.[34] Because murder is the least likely crime to go unreported, statistics of murder are seen as a bellwether of overall crime rates.[35]
Murder rates vary greatly among countries and societies around the world. In the Western world, murder rates in most countries have declined significantly during the 20th century and are now between 1-4 cases per 100,000 people per year. Murder rates in Japan, Ireland and Iceland are among the lowest in the world, around 0.5; the rate of the United States is among the highest of developed countries, around 5.5 in 2004,[36] with rates in larger cities sometimes over 40 per 100,000.[37]
666,160 people have been killed in the United States between 1960 and 1996.[38]
Within the Western world, nearly 90% of all murders are committed by males, with males also being the victims of 74.6% of murders (according the United States Department of Justice). There is a sharp peak in the age distribution of murderers between the ages of 17 and 30. People become less likely to commit a murder as they age. Incidents of children and adolescents committing murders are also rare."
this subject's previous posts here and here and here
politics here
The Burial of Federal Judge John Roll
What are You sowing?
The last few days of reading headlines could be summarized, perhaps, with this one: Jared Loughner Commits Sin;
Nation Throws Stones
Nation Throws Stones
I'm pondering exactly why this one hit home. Anger Abides.
There are three major theories or categories of blame for Loughner.
One: Psychological Disorder
If Jared Lee Loughner is suffering from a mental illness, should we be treating him rather than screaming at him?
That is, some who have seen his face say he is "crazy."
Those assessing his legal defense will say he was "insane" (a legal term).
Psychologists who would plumb his mind will find he is suffering from a mental disorder;
some trying to see his soul say he is "possessed."
In this case-- a homo sapiens creature with an illness-- shouldn't our national conversation be about our mental health system? How might we be better neighbors, good Samaritans to those in need? Getting angry at a sick person seems weird.
Two: Moral Failing; Evil, Mortal Sin
If Jared Loughner is guilty of a moral offense against humanity and Divinity,
why are we astonished and gnashing our teeth? President Obama (in his speech at the Memorial in Tucson) reminded us that there is evil in the world and that we will never be able to eradicate it. If you react to this with the true horror of Jared Loughner's sin, why are you not in a frenzy over the sins of others every day?
There are thousands of murders* every year to pick from, some involving torture and grotesque sexual violence--some too sad to hear...
perhaps too gruesome even for Hollywood--
So,
with a Virginia Tech every four days** --are you walking around angry at everybody's sins?
[BTW, Does the media pick and choose a story and tell us how to emote every 48 hours?]
What purpose, Anger, at the sins of certain folks? GET ANGRY and Throw some stones! ?
unless- are you angry at those who have given the example of how to commit violent sins?
are you angry at systems or environmental elements that are teaching, cleverly, our children how to commit sin with Impunity? But whaddaya gonna do about it? *
A third category-
-if one does not believe
such faithy stuff:
sin, goodness as divine, life everlasting,
absolute good or evil; eternal truths, the preservation of you and your personality for eternity (really?)
but rather choose a
soulless but
Mathematically Elegant Evolution of DNA survival--
one might choose
to Stone someone
at least
to eliminate bad genes in the pool. (should be required, Actually, along with all actions that Get Rid of the Horrible Things. Quit putting energy and resources into those who are taking more than they give to the collective. Doy. Sentimental much?)
This third way
may allow for anger-- toward Loughner,
as he has not played by the rules. He might not have "chosen" to be mentally disturbed, but he "should" have gotten help- instead he acted out violence for some reason; this needs to Stop. or be stopped.
anger toward others:
rationally, logically find out the reasons, search the environment, find why our pseudo quasi utopia is being marred by this guy or his parents or those who influenced him. Get angry at whoever or whatever is behind all this [temporary] pain.
This third way, where Molecules are king---
soon we are all dead (molecules dispersed) and nothing remains, no pain, no memory.
Really, this moment, we're just gelatinous masses of noisy eaters bouncing around the planet, ingesting, uniting, yeilding, laughing, building, hitting, killing. Get over it. Values are relative. Hitler was simply making provisions for his dna. Don't be mad at him, or Jared, they are just blipping into existence for a minute; then they are gone. Happy eternity.
**Bob Herbert says that "The overwhelming majority of the people who claim to be so outraged by last weekend’s shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and 19 others — six of them fatally — will take absolutely no steps, none whatsoever, to prevent a similar tragedy in the future. And similar tragedies are coming as surely as the sun makes its daily appearance over the eastern horizon because this is an American ritual: the mowing down of the innocents. On Saturday, the victims happened to be a respected congresswoman, a 9-year-old girl, a federal judge and a number of others gathered at the kind of civic event that is supposed to define a successful democracy. But there are endless horror stories. In April 2007, 32 students and faculty members at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute were shot to death and 17 others were wounded by a student armed with a pair of semiautomatic weapons...“As far as young people are concerned, we lose the equivalent of the massacre at Virginia Tech about every four days.”
*Murder:
9110 committed in USA in 1960
15,241committed in USA in 2009
From wikipedia
"An estimated 520,000 people were murdered in 2000 around the globe.
Two-fifths of them were young people between the ages of 10 and 29 who were killed by other young people.[34] Because murder is the least likely crime to go unreported, statistics of murder are seen as a bellwether of overall crime rates.[35]
Murder rates vary greatly among countries and societies around the world. In the Western world, murder rates in most countries have declined significantly during the 20th century and are now between 1-4 cases per 100,000 people per year. Murder rates in Japan, Ireland and Iceland are among the lowest in the world, around 0.5; the rate of the United States is among the highest of developed countries, around 5.5 in 2004,[36] with rates in larger cities sometimes over 40 per 100,000.[37]
666,160 people have been killed in the United States between 1960 and 1996.[38]
Within the Western world, nearly 90% of all murders are committed by males, with males also being the victims of 74.6% of murders (according the United States Department of Justice). There is a sharp peak in the age distribution of murderers between the ages of 17 and 30. People become less likely to commit a murder as they age. Incidents of children and adolescents committing murders are also rare."
this subject's previous posts here and here and here
politics here
 |
| Daniel Hernandez, Intern for Congresswoman Giffords |
 |
| Victims of Tucson Arizona shootings 2011 |
What are we sowing?
 |
| what's in your pocket? |
What are You sowing?
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