What Have We Become?
Let me start by saying that some may be offended by what I am about to say. However, it does not diminish my need to say it.
What have we become? How can we, as a society, stand by and allow tragedies like last week to occur? In the throes of agony and regret, we hear cries from both the left and the right that things have to change. We either need to ban anything and everything that looks like a gun, or we need to make sure that when a baby is born it is issued a birth certificate and a Glock. One of these solutions will solve the problem, and the side with the most passion, and the most money, will win.
For the record, let me state outright, that I believe there does not need to be any more laws concerning gun control. I DO think that âGun Freeâ zones work about as well as a bullseye on a target for attracting the attention of those that would do others harm.
However, that is not what this rant is about.
By definition, in order for a mass murder to take place, or a mass shooting, there needs to be a âmassâ. There needs to be more than one or 2. In the case of last week, it was a college, where the average age of the student was 38. There were men, women, and children there.
There was one deranged madman with some guns, as well.
We all know what happened. 9 were killed, many others were injured, and the shooter took his own life.
This, tragically, happens all too often in this day and age. When it does, we are right to ask the question of âWhy?â, however that is not the only question that needs to be asked.
We should be asking âWhy did so many die?â
Before I go any further, let me say that Chris Mintz is a hero. He, and he alone, apparently, tried to take the shooter out prior to the police arriving. For that, he got shot 7 times. I thank God that he survived, as should every other person that was there.
That is the subject of this post.
THERE WERE OTHER PEOPLE THERE!!
Why, with all the other people that were present (I even heard one person say that they heard other people called 911 and said they were armed but were told to NOT react, so they didnât!), was it only ONE man that tried to stop it? How could people stand by as others were lined up, asked if they were religious or not, and got gunned down according to their beliefs?
When did we, as a society, become a nation of victims? When did we turn from being people that would stand up and fight an aggressor, to people that would stand by and wait for others to come and save us, as others are innocently killed?
There is a lot to this question, and no easy answer.
Something about us, as a nation, has changed. No longer are we the Country that would volunteer to storm the beaches at Normandy, in order to stave off the onslaught of evil. Instead, we stand by, wring our hands, pull our hair, and say âsomebody should do something about thatâ.
I think a part of the problem is that we have, somehow, decided to turn over our freedoms, and our responsibilities to protect those freedoms, to the government. I think that part of it is that we have come to value OUR lives, over the lives of others. I think that we have developed a âvictim mentalityâ and want others to look upon us, and say âOh, how strong they must be to have lived through that, and yet endureâ.
I think, for the most part, we have become a nation of cowards.
The death toll last week, and all the times before that, would have been much less, if there had not only been Chris Mintz, but 2, or even 3 Chris Mintzâs.
We need to turn that around. The government is NOT responsible for change in us. The Government is not to blame. You want to know who is? Look in the mirror. It is that person you see every morning while you brush your teeth. Because, if it wasnât for you and I, then the people that are in the position of power that they are in, would not be there. The laws that they enact would not be in place. The lawsuits that have changed the fabric of society and made people afraid to act for fear of getting sued would hold no power. The fear of us getting hurt so we allow others to die, would not be an issue.
The very fabric of our society has changed over the last few decades. Slowly, but it has. We have gone from standing up to bullies, to calling the police to get an 8 year old arrested. We have gone from teaching responsible gun owner ship to having kids arrested because they made a pop tart look like a gun.
WE have taught OUR kids that if there is ever a problem, that WE should not deal with it, but rather WE should call the GOVERNMENT and have the GOVERNMENT do something about it.
Think about it. How could anybody stand by and watch as another person gets gunned down? Why was the gunman not bum rushed, and over powered? How could ANYBODY watch as he shoots a person in a wheelchair?
There was a hero that day. It was Chris Mintz. He alone, with no weapons, just a desire to stop evil as it happened, reacted. All the others that were there, and stood by, should hang their head in shame.
We have come to expect that the âother personâ, or âthe governmentâ should do something about the horrors that take place in our midst. We blame the devaluation of life on everything from video games to abortion. We decry the lost morals of society, yet scream that God has no place anywhere in publicâŚ..and we have allowed that to make us apathetic to the needs of others.
Some may argue that we are not apathetic. We give to charity in record numbers. We get ourselves doused in ice water to bring attention to ALS, and wear pink to promote breast cancer awareness. Those are both good causes, and I even had a little bit of fun getting ice water poured on me, and if you did, good for you!
However, would you jump on the grenade to save a friend? To save a stranger? Would you stand by and watch as a horrible act takes place, or would you stand up and try to save the innocent?
I hope that my friends, all of them, would not hesitate.
We need a change in this country. Not necessarily in politicians, for they only reflect what society as a whole holds dear. We need to get our courage back. Not the âcourageâ of somebody going from âBruceâ to âCaitlinâ and being hailed as a hero (I feel obligated to point out that I am not judging that action. That is only for God to do, not me, or anybody else. However, I donât consider it as being courageous.) Rather, the courage of those willing to stand in the face of almost certain death, and still storm the beaches, so that the generations behind them will, hopefully, never have to see the face of evil like that again.
F6:Lk