Politicizing the Virginia Tech Massacre

Let me begin by saying that I am still shocked about what happened today. No, I didn't know anyone there, but things like this really drive home just how unsafe we all are, and just how fragile life is.

Earlier today I went to the MSN message board about the shootings and it was appalling. People were posting about it like it was a joke..."ROFL why are you all surprised?" and "32 dead, not bad, not bad at all but could have been better". Anyone who is sick enough to not only think that way but post it deserves to be shot in the head. Sorry, but killing someone like that would have been better for society than killing those 32 college students.

Then there were the political posts -- it's President Bush's fault, it's the NRA's fault, if we outlawed guns this wouldn't have happened, if the students/teachers inside had been armed this wouldn't have happened, we need to bring prayer back into the schools, we need to stop praying to a god that doesn't exist...to all of these 'blame the other side' posters I have one thing to say --

WOULD YOU ALL PLEASE JUST SHUT THE F**K UP!

Thirty-two lives were lost today (I don't count the gunman, he took his own life and deserves whatever fate awaits him). Thirty-two families are mourning the loss of a son, daughter, brother, sister, neice, nephew, aunt, uncle, mother, father, or friend. Show a little respect for their grief and their loss and stop trying to turn this into something political that you can use against your enemies.

You want to know why this happened? Re-read what I said above about the posts on MSN. Society no longer cares about the loss of human life. We're all so disconnected from one another that 32 people dying means nothing to us. Why is it that very few people took the time to think about those lives lost, those families shattered, and just offer their sympathies, regardless of political affiliation?

And now, my responses to a few of the comments that were on that board:

To those who said that having a few students/teachers with concealed weapons would have stopped the gunman before he killed so many: Most likely it would only have resulted in more deaths when the 'good guy' panicked. Let's not forget that the police wouldn't know who was the good guy and who was the bad guy and would have (IMO justifiably) shot anyone they saw with a gun.

To those who said that outlawing guns would have prevented this: News flash - possessing and using cocaine, marijuana and heroin is against the law, yet there is no shortage of people buying, selling and using these drugs. Outlawing guns would have the same affect on shootings that outlawing drugs has had on people getting high.

To those who said that prayer needs to be returned to the classroom: For the truly faithful, prayer can never be removed from the classroom, or anywhere else, unless you believe that God can only listens to what comes out of your mouth and not to what is in your heart or on your mind.

To those who said that this happened because people aren't intelligent enough to stop praying and realize that there is no God: And just how is losing one's faith going to stop something like this?



To the friends and families of those lost and those injured, my deepest sympathies. You are in my thoughts and yes, my prayers.