I don't understand why our world has to be so messed up sometimes. One moment I'm listening to the sweet voice of Corinne Bailey Rae or laughing with friends, and the next my heart is getting frozen from the inside out when I hear that 32 people have been shot at Virginia Tech.
I don't really know what to say in this blog, so try to stay with me as I try to gather my thoughts about this subject.
There are too many things you can say about this, and that people have already said about this. One of these "things" is gun control. Ever since Monday I've been hearing this subject over and over in my school and on the news; opinions from all sides. I hear the people demanding stricter gun policies in the States, I hear people scolding those people for being so insensitive to those who are still mourning their slaughtered friends and family, and I hear those who agree on both sides. I think I'm teetering toward the latter, personally.
Last night my boyfriend, Dylan, and I talked extensively about this over the phone (don't worry, it was Vonage; no horrifying international charges ;) ). His opinion on the matter was that the gun control issue has been too loose for too long. You can buy a gun at your local Wal-Mart now. Of course, you get background checks, etc., but Cho Seung-Hui was checked, and look what happened. I agreed that it is too easy for anyone to get access to guns these days. I think that the idea of my neighbor or my friend having a gun is chilling, no matter if I know their intentions or not.
It takes one thought, ONE THOUGHT with a gun and you can end a life. That's frightening.
Take the military, the police force. Guns and other weapons are unavoidable in those jobs, I know that. But, for the most part, those weapons are handled by people who know what they're doing. I feel secure with that ideology (although there are always exceptions, unfortunately), and that's a completely different subject than the idea of some Average Joe going into a Wal-Mart and purchasing a rifle after a 10-minute background check.
People aren't stupid. They're lazy. They don't want to look red-tape and conflict in the face. And for those that do---there are just too few of them.
Do I think gun control will be processed and discuss heatedly among politicians? Initially, but the scare will die out in a few months. That's the worse-case scenario in my opinion. The public is just so fickle. It drives me mad. It seems all I can do is steam about it over the Internet and put out my opinion when I can to convince my generation that if they want to go shoot something, it should keep to the video games and paintball fields.
I don't think that society has anything to do with the overall horror that Cho Seung-Hui created, no matter what he said. Yeah, people could have done more to keep an eye on him, or even the courts could have acted faster in deciding his mental situation, but I truly think it was his fault. Despite my idealistic nature, I feel that he messed himself up. He let himself fester in hate and violence without any intention of turning back. It was a definite choice of his. I've known people who have that mindset on mankind, and on themselves. I've known people who just wallow in anger and hate, glorifying themselves as Princes of Darkness. I have had my time with the quiet, seething despair of useless anger, but I always found in myself that spark of life that pulls me out of that hole almost instantly.
Cho Seung-Hui bought those guns. He never asked for help. He had blamed society when it had done nothing. He was insane, but he brought it upon himself. There are people like that, people I have, and still do, meet. No as far-gone, but definitely the beginning stages; those teenage years.
You know, after all of this, I know there are a few things I need to do. Things I need to talk to my friends about. Things I need to change about myself and how I act toward some people.
Life is so fragile.
Why is it that all that is fragile so precious? And why have we come to a point where it is cast aside so easily?
We are singing this in my choir. Every time we do, I get choked up. Today I had to force myself to only read the notes, and not the lyrics, because I knew if I did I would start to cry.
Prayer of the Children by Kurt Bestor
Can you hear the prayer of the children?
On bended knee, in the shadow of an unknown room
Empty eyes with no more tears to cry
Turning heavenward toward the light
Crying Jesus, help me
To see the morning light-of one more day
But if I should die before I wake,
I pray my soul to take
Can you feel the hearts of the children?
Aching for home, for something of their very own
Reaching hands, with nothing to hold on to,
But hope for a better day a better day
Crying Jesus, help me
To feel the love again in my own land
But if unknown roads lead away from home,
Give me loving arms, away from harm
Can you hear the voice of the children?
Softly pleading for silence in a shattered world?
Angry guns preach a gospel full of hate,
Blood of the innocent on their hands
Crying Jesus, help me
To feel the sun again upon my face,
For when darkness clears I know you're near,
Bringing peace again
Dali cujete sve djecje molitive?
Can you hear all the children's prayers?
Can you hear the prayer of the children?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
It is very sad that with all of the resources we have still Hui slipped through. My heart breaks for what he must have been going through. I bet he lived an agonizing life for many years for reasons we will probably never know. There were many peices of the puzzle that raised flags but no one ever was able to put them together. Gun control...I'm not convinced that he would not have been able to obtain them illegally if they weren't available legally. Sometimes you just can't stop a maniac once the wheels are in motion no matter what controls you try to place on them 'legally'. I heard someone say that we have to decide that certain behaviors are NOT OK. We have been too lenient with 'social misfits' giving 2nd, 3rd and 4th chances. There needs to be laws that enable intervention for people who's behaviors are clearly a serious concern. There were many professional people who felt he was a danger to himself and others. So many lives have been changed forever because we were unable to help someone who so desparately needed us. How sad.
Of all you said, the one thing I agree most strongly with is that HE was the one at fault. The actions and choices were his alone.
We like to blame it all on mental illness but somewhere along the line he made choices in life that led him to the point where his hatred ruled his actions.
Always, always, we are responsible for ourselves and the choices we make for good or bad.
Post a Comment