Who's to Blame?
- First I want to say that God is not at fault here. We are people created by Him with free will to do as we please and make the choices we make. Unfortunately we often have to deal with or suffer the consequences of what others choose to do.
- Second, the only person responsible is the shooter himself. We could all play the 'what if' game all day/weeks/months/years to come. But what it all comes down to is the choice that he made that day.
What Now?
- The media needs to stop showing all of the horrific footage of him with the guns & knives. Every family member of a victim & the surviving victims know what their loved ones faced. They don't need to see it replayed over & over again just so some large media corporation can make profits.
- The shooters voice doesn't need to be heard. If you noticed, he referenced to the Columbine shootings. Not that one event caused the other but the first obviously put fuel to the already burning flame & it made enough of an impression for him to mention it in his 'final statement' if you will. Do we want to see another person reference the VT shooter in their reasoning for doing this all? To those who have the same thoughts as he did, he is a martyr for their 'cause'.
- When my mom was murdered seeing the newspaper articles about what happened & reading comments left on newspaper sights from people, mostly strangers, was hard to cope with. I know how she died, I know the last image that she saw & so do the families of those who were lost - we don't need to see it over and over. (Did I already mention that, I think so - sorry, it just really hit home with me).
- Let the families grieve. Let the students heal. I know none of us are out there putting cameras & microphones in front of the families or students faces but if we're watching them do it then they'll keep doing it. So I say don't turn on the news stations that are over saturating the news with footage & interviews. I understand it needs to be reported but within balance.
So that's it. My two cents. Take it as what you will. Just how I see it. If you are a praying person I hope you are praying for the families, students, & all those affected by this tragedy. That's what it was, a tragedy, we may never know why it happened - it just did. And sometimes we aren't going to know all the answers, most of the time we don't actually. We can take comfort in knowing that God can turn all things to good. I don't know how but somehow He does & we may not ever know how or what good comes from this or any of the other tragedies that happen in our country everyday. So I've said it and feel better now. See how you can be a part of the one day blog silence in honor toward the victims & maybe silent your tvs of overdone news that day.
8 comments:
This was a very good post, Becca. I agree with you. You know what's sad is that today there was a man who had threatened to "do better" than the Virginia killer in the Yuba City/Marysville area. He told a pastor and his family what he intended to do, calling specific plots and schools out by name. My son goes to an elementary school in Y.City across from his house. All the schools in the area were in lock-down all day; many kids were picked up by parents and released home. The high school, from what the news has reported, was the most impacted as there was high alert and panic. Greg's dad told me that police and under-cover cops littered the place...
Anyway, all that to say how scary this stuff is (they still haven't caught the man yet)--but I am sooo thankful that the Lord is protecting my son and all of those kids over there... He protected them today; nothing happened. There are several other incidents that happened around the country today (including San Diego and Michigan). When stuff like this hits close to home it's even more a wake up call--how much we need Christ and how much we need to put our faith and trust in him as our protector, shelter, and provider. He loves us and he hates sin; the errs of this world is the product of man's design--not his. While it's true he intervenes at times--his ways our not our own; who can fathom his character and truly understand the depths of his master-plans? It's all quite relative in a way; I mean, isn't that the very definition of faith? Hoping in all things--even through difficulty of eyesight and circumstance? What better way for him to show his glory triumphantly through tragedy? Hence, Jesus' murder upon the cross.
Melanie, I am so glad that your son is okay and no action came of that man's threats. I hope that the authorities find that man & he is dealt with properly. I don't know if making threats like that is a technical crime but he obviously is at least in need of some kind of counseling. Maybe he'll be willing to seek help, I can't see someone who tells his pastor & family about such a thing not be in want of help.
Well said Rebecca, I know political /news posts can be a bit heavy and sometimes you don't want to go there, but I'm glad you did.
I agree with what you say.All that media exposure is bound to put ideas in sick peoples minds!I'm so sorry to hear about your mom.You know, the country that I stay in as seen as very violent. Alot of our countrymen immigrate to safer countries. My mom in law is immagrating in June and trying to convince us to do the same. I just think that violence is everywhere! You can't really run away from it, it just happens. You are in my prayers, as I also pray for the families of the virginia tech tragedy.
(PS: The guy in Y.City turned himself in last night to the police).
Hi there, I just found you through your comment at RSM and I just felt moved to say something. I am very sorry to hear about your mom and I wish that there was something to say that expressed how I feel other than "I am so sorry". My dad died unexpectedly on Labour Day this past year and I have just feel very emotional hearing about these things. I just wanted to let you know that you are in my thoughts.
I just came across your blog today, as you had posted a comment on my friend's blog.
I don't think I could have put it any better than what you just said. I tend to stay away from political and news events on my blog too, infact, I tend to stay away from watching the news in general. Like you just said, sometimes it is just too much. There is no point in repeating something that is going to bring people more pain.
I say props to you for standing up to say it. I'm sure that there are more people than you think who agree :)
this is one of the reasons I love you so much :)
and omGoodness (((melanie)))
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