Who should we blame?

[RandomAlias]

Whom.

 

[BoomBoomMancini]

Rather, let us regulate the amendments in order. First amendment first.

First Amendment IS regulated. There are a whole line of Supreme Court cases determinining when and how speech can be regulated.

 

[joeybaggz]

You forgot “no fault” divorce; and radical feminism. (don’t know if someone has already cited this)

 

[Pup7]

Sometimes the ACLU irritates me, but I remember they really will bat for anyone truly wronged. Good reminder.

 

[Pup7]

well, you’ve already received some great comments, si I am going to mention one thing only.

I am not American, so as an outsider looking in, and from a country that has very strict gun laws, yeah, you guys do have a seriously big problem with the guns in the United states.

as for who to blame in general, well humans commit sins, they always have, since we have free will.

yes, certainly some shooters may have mental issues, i.e. they were bullied so severelyand it’s true that they committed the crime, but the bullies aren’t exactly innocent either if they purposely make someone’s life unbearable, in other cases, it’s simply a crime committed in cold blood with full knowledge

Where are you from, exactly?

 

[po18guy]

po18guy:

Rather, let us regulate the amendments in order. First amendment first.

First Amendment IS regulated. There are a whole line of Supreme Court cases determinining when and how speech can be regulated.

Abuse of speech that is permitted under the first amendment is the sole cause of the furor over the 2nd. The media incessantly drills homicide and other violence into our hearts - then calls for gun laws when their re-programming of American goes awry. Well, it clearly needs further restriction, as it simply isn’t working. Media violence and hate speech are on the rise. Something must be done!

I say ban free speech entirely. It does no good in any case. I mean, there were those who questioned Obama’s citizenship. Ban free speech! Ban it now! We will remain absolutely free to think what we want, but speech by government approval only. This works in most of the world. Time for us to catch up.

 

[End_Timer]

If not for the work of demons, tragedies like that wouldn’t happen
They did some “Hi-fiving” after this

 

[Peeps]

I am in the middle of reading one of the scholarly books (not meant for children) about Laura Ingalls Wilder that delves deeply into the history of the Midwestern states where she lived.

There have always been shocking crimes.

Whole families murdered and/or dismembered, Shootings, rapes, beatings, stabbings, slashings, beheadings, etc.

People sin. And some people sin with impunity.

Remember that Jesus said that if we are angry with our brother, we are in danger of hell.

I think a lot of these awful crimes have their origin in unchecked anger that the perpetrator allows to fester and grow and eventually, it explodes, and the person kills.

Jesus goes on to say that when we have something against our brother, we need to go to him and be reconciled (work it out). Ephesians 4:26 says to be angry but do not sin, do not let the sun go down on your anger.

The problem is, not everyone has learned to do this. Some people have a very hard time controlling their anger. Some people have extreme emotions that cause them to feel anger much more deeply and viscerally than others. Some of this could be because of a mental condition of the person;e.g., people who are born with some kind of personality disorder. And some people are raised badly and don’t learn how to manage anger. Some parents learned violence from their parents and pass it down to their children.

It doesn’t help that so many movies present the “angry person who seeks out revenge on those who have wronged them” as a hero.

Some people can’t separate fiction from reality, so they internalize what they see on TV, movies, or video games and come to believe that it’s the right thing to do. Even if they receive religious teaching, it doesn’t take. It’s possible that some of the “pretty” art that illustrates the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule is so foreign to a person’s lifestyle (especially if they watch a lot of visual media), they just don’t internalize it.

I think that two things would help:

1. Better teaching of morality in secular and religious settings. Public schools stay away from teaching any kind of “moral code” because they place themselves in danger of getting sued. I personally think that should be challenged, and teachers should be encouraged to teach children Universal Law that is present in all human society. And religious organizations need to make sure that their materials are relevant to their students–nix the old-fashioned artwork and make it real to them. And make sure the parents receive the same education!
2. Better care plans for the mentally-ill and those born with disabilities that make it hard for them to control their impulses. This care should begin in very early childhood. So many children grow up with these disabilities and receive very low-level treatment (perhaps a visit once a month to a school counselor or nurse). These are the ones who kill when they are old enough to handle a gun, knife, build a bomb, or drive a truck.

 

[OneSheep]

Regarding the recent Annapolis, Md. Shootings, the inevitable question will arise – how could this happen, why and who is to blame? The anti-Second Amendment liberals will scream for more gun control, but that will not solve the problem.

The problem, in general, is our God-less society and its lack of moral values. In his book, “The Roots of Violence”, Fr. Vincent Miceli, predicted all of this. He said that the tap-root of violence is a God-less society.

It sounds like you value what the Church says about violence. Are you familiar with what the Bishops of the US say about gun control?

We can blame all the atheist groups who want to take God out of society – the ACLU, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, all the “Right to Die” groups, etc. A hearty “well done” to all of them – they have done a great job.

In your view, assuming what you are saying is true (which it may be, in some instances), why do they want to “take God out of society”? What are they thinking? Remember we are first called to give people the benefit of the doubt when answering these kind of questions.

And let us not forget those who promote the “Culture of Death”, such as the Democratic Party which supports all the moral evils condemned by the Bible, especially abortion.

What in your experience tells you that the Democratic Pary supports “all the moral evils”? And, why do some people support abortion?

A priest once told me, “It is not to condemn or condone, but understand”. This is a great way to approach blame.

So the result of all of the above, is that we have created a culture that has no respect for human life. If we can kill the child in the womb, why can’t we kill it after it is born (such as partial-birth abortion), or when it is a week old…, or a year old, or 20 or 30 years or more old? What is the difference?

The only difference is in the mindset of the people wanting the abortion. It is a matter of denial, an actual blindness of people do not want to believe what is true when the truth has such huge impact. Fear, and desire for justice, can blind us. The thinking is as if the child is not alive, and yes, it is dehumanizing and gives the unborn a negative value.

Hanging onto blame also gives people a negative value, right? Jesus calls us to understand and forgive.

And then there is one more person we can perhaps blame, and to know who that person is, all we need do is look in the mirror, and ask ourselves how our lifestyle has affected this problem.

I think this is a valuable practice, if it leads to true conversion. If we hang onto blame, though, we are enslaved by the resentment.

So let us not ask who is to blame, until we ask ourselves what is our attitude toward this problem. Are we working for the Culture of Life, or are we working for the Culture of Death; or are we just indifferent to it all?

Does anyone want a “Culture of Death”?

 

[QwertyGirl]

The problem, in general, is our God-less society and its lack of moral values. In his book, “The Roots of Violence”, Fr. Vincent Miceli, predicted all of this. He said that the tap-root of violence is a God-less society.

I disagree. I believe the problem is straight-up, unaddressed mental illness. We have a lot of mental illness and a lot of guns in the hands of those who are mentally ill.

 

[PJH_74]

The problem with the First Amendment is that it was created in the time of the quill and the printing press. The problem with the Second Amendment is that it was written in the age of Muskets.

 

[TheAmazingGrace]

We have become a materialistic, me-first, morally bankrupt society, interested in our own personal pleasures.

To what morally superior era do you wish to return?

 

[Theo520]

The point I am making, is that if we had a more God centered society, the shooter may have had a better understanding of right and wrong, and would know that actions based on a grudge would be wrong. The mental health idea is just speculation at this point.

I have little doubt he understood what he was doing was against the law, which is equivalent to being wrong. Maybe an overlay of Catholic guilt would have added deterrence, but he knew the wrong.

 

[Delphinus]

Murder started with Cain. It’s nothing new, and nothing happening in our modern society is making it happen. It is the fault of the people perpetrating it. Roe V. Wade is it’s own crime, also rooted in violence. Brothers have been murdering each other since the dawn of time. Even when the church was at the center of society murder happened all the time. What happens in society doesn’t seem to matter so much as the individual choices of people to follow and trust God, rather than to follow and trust their own fear and brokenness.

We don’t need changes in legislation - violence will happen anyway. We don’t need to take away weapons (England is having stabbing problems now that they are not allowed guns) - it will happen anyway. We need to pray, we need to love, we need to reach out and shine God’s light in the world and push back the darkness. We need to come to God in the Mass and in our own prayers and invite Him to pour His love into our hearts to such an abundance that it overflows from us out into the world! Blame does nothing, accusation does nothing. Only love can drive out hate and death.