The Message of Mass Murders
At 2am this morning a man equipped with three weapons went into a gay nightclub and killed 50 people before the police were able to intervene and kill him. The verdict is still out as to why and of course the media and others will speculate. Is this a hate crime against gay people or was this an act of terrorism? Was this a man who was angry at being gay or who hated gay people? In the end those questions are likely not ones that will ever be answered because number one, the shooter is dead.
The one thing we know is that this incident was an act of an angry man who decided to unload that anger onto others. But what we know best is that there are people around us who could at any moment under the right circumstances kill another person or persons. The question is how do people like this end up killing and no one who knew him or interacted with him NOT know anything about what was coming? How is it that a person who is capable of a mass killing be overlooked and go un-noticed? More importantly what is the message that we are being asked to hear?
We are living in a world where there are a number of people who have decided that spirituality is something we need to practice more. A group of people who understand that the world is in need of more love and connection and that we are all important and worthy. On the other hand we also have people who are "non-believers" who are disconnected and emotionally absent, people who would rather not feel their feelings or that of others. People who avoid going emotional deep that are afraid of their feelings. It has become acceptable for people to not just announce they are an atheist but to degrade, mock and insult Christians. In essence we are in a downward spiral that could very well be the cause of such a tragic act of disrespect and disregard for life.
So what is the answer? How can we stop these killings and these overtly hateful acts? I would suggest that what we need to do is become more aware and advocate for an educational system that openly talks about mental illness and the fact that our emotional makeup is something we must tend to and work on daily. I would also say that we should be teaching our children (at home and in school) ways to address their anxiety and ways to deal with stress or anger. We must begin to bring sensitivity activities into the classroom and to take the time to talk things out between children who are in conflict, teaching them how to resolve things in a way that is win win rather than win lose.
I am saddened by this tragic event where a group of people have been targeted and the results being the worse fatalities in US history. What I know is that this is a result of someone who was likely to be a child who had a bad family history, possibly abusive. This was a person who has been overlooked for years and gone un-noticed, but moreover gone untreated. This is a clear indication that we are a society that is focused on placing a person in jail after they commit the crime rather than providing that person with the mental health assistance they need to heal. It is more than anything a wake up call that we are not seeing what our intuition can bring to our attention as a serious issue that needs to be addressed. It is a message to all of us that there is a lot of healing that needs to take place in our world.
I am wondering why of all those people in the club was there not a cohesive effort to stop the shooter by getting together and fighting back? If 10 people would have all jumped on him and taken his weapons they alone could have stopped the killings. One of my own theory's is that everyone was in shock and in fear and that is understandable. On the other hand I wonder if the lack of a collective action against the shooter is a message to us about how disconnected we are to the fact that we are all in this life together and that we are here to serve each other. I cannot blame anyone nor would I find fault in the victims who were unable to or were in such fear as to not be able to fight back. My heart wants to turn back time and that instead of fifty people being slaughtered the shooter was stopped cold after two people were shot.
The logical side of me wants to say that we must begin to prepare for something like a crazed killer in any public venue. I am uncertain as to what we can do to prepare for such a severe action on the part of another human being. My desire is that we teach our children better and allow them to express their need to isolate or their feelings of self-hate. What should we do to better survive? What can we do to stop it before it is worse? All that I know is that love conquers hate and that in spite of this mad man who has killed so many people out of hate, love will heal their families and love will heal us and bring us back to a place of trust where we can live in our joy again, not ever letting someone like this take that away from us. Although we may never be able to avoid an incident like what happened in Orlando Florida we can instill the importance of serving others and having a compassionate, understanding heart.
The one thing we know is that this incident was an act of an angry man who decided to unload that anger onto others. But what we know best is that there are people around us who could at any moment under the right circumstances kill another person or persons. The question is how do people like this end up killing and no one who knew him or interacted with him NOT know anything about what was coming? How is it that a person who is capable of a mass killing be overlooked and go un-noticed? More importantly what is the message that we are being asked to hear?
We are living in a world where there are a number of people who have decided that spirituality is something we need to practice more. A group of people who understand that the world is in need of more love and connection and that we are all important and worthy. On the other hand we also have people who are "non-believers" who are disconnected and emotionally absent, people who would rather not feel their feelings or that of others. People who avoid going emotional deep that are afraid of their feelings. It has become acceptable for people to not just announce they are an atheist but to degrade, mock and insult Christians. In essence we are in a downward spiral that could very well be the cause of such a tragic act of disrespect and disregard for life.
So what is the answer? How can we stop these killings and these overtly hateful acts? I would suggest that what we need to do is become more aware and advocate for an educational system that openly talks about mental illness and the fact that our emotional makeup is something we must tend to and work on daily. I would also say that we should be teaching our children (at home and in school) ways to address their anxiety and ways to deal with stress or anger. We must begin to bring sensitivity activities into the classroom and to take the time to talk things out between children who are in conflict, teaching them how to resolve things in a way that is win win rather than win lose.
I am saddened by this tragic event where a group of people have been targeted and the results being the worse fatalities in US history. What I know is that this is a result of someone who was likely to be a child who had a bad family history, possibly abusive. This was a person who has been overlooked for years and gone un-noticed, but moreover gone untreated. This is a clear indication that we are a society that is focused on placing a person in jail after they commit the crime rather than providing that person with the mental health assistance they need to heal. It is more than anything a wake up call that we are not seeing what our intuition can bring to our attention as a serious issue that needs to be addressed. It is a message to all of us that there is a lot of healing that needs to take place in our world.
I am wondering why of all those people in the club was there not a cohesive effort to stop the shooter by getting together and fighting back? If 10 people would have all jumped on him and taken his weapons they alone could have stopped the killings. One of my own theory's is that everyone was in shock and in fear and that is understandable. On the other hand I wonder if the lack of a collective action against the shooter is a message to us about how disconnected we are to the fact that we are all in this life together and that we are here to serve each other. I cannot blame anyone nor would I find fault in the victims who were unable to or were in such fear as to not be able to fight back. My heart wants to turn back time and that instead of fifty people being slaughtered the shooter was stopped cold after two people were shot.
The logical side of me wants to say that we must begin to prepare for something like a crazed killer in any public venue. I am uncertain as to what we can do to prepare for such a severe action on the part of another human being. My desire is that we teach our children better and allow them to express their need to isolate or their feelings of self-hate. What should we do to better survive? What can we do to stop it before it is worse? All that I know is that love conquers hate and that in spite of this mad man who has killed so many people out of hate, love will heal their families and love will heal us and bring us back to a place of trust where we can live in our joy again, not ever letting someone like this take that away from us. Although we may never be able to avoid an incident like what happened in Orlando Florida we can instill the importance of serving others and having a compassionate, understanding heart.
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