I am as I am sure most of us are, horrified at the deaths in Connecticut. Any shooting is terrible, any murder in Advent especially painful, but both together, involving children is horrible beyond words.
These events happen with an obscene rhythm. Already we have the various news stations with reporters standing uselessly in front of the shooting site, or helicoptering around it even more uselessly. The obligatory report standing in front of a hospital is either on the air or will be soon.
Part of the dance macabre is the attempts by both sides of the ongoing firearms law debate to claim victimization. On the one side we have those who favor various laws restricting ownership and use of firearms, claiming that had their laws been in effect, things would be better. On the other side are the advocates for less control claiming that had the law permitted armed teachers and staff, the gunman might have been deterred or at least shot before doing so much damage. Obscenely, both sides have already been heard.
Showing a great deal more class , the White House has observed in response to a question that while there will be a day for debates about firearms laws, this is not that day.
Indeed this is a day for the law enforcement community to be sure that the school and others in the area are as safe as possible. Even if the killer acted alone, one of the horrible facts of our time is that we know about, "copy cat killers." These are sad and pathetic persons who may unleash violence simply because someone else is garnering press coverage for having done so.
This is a day to assure parents that the children will be as safe as possible today and tomorrow.
This is a day to try to understand what happened, who did it, and what possible motivation no matter how pathetic and twisted drove the killer.
Most of all, this is a day to mourn. At least twenty-four persons, humans with souls, minds, futures, and loves given and received, are dead. This is a day to pray. Pray for them, for their loved ones, for their community and for all of us in the larger community, Connecticut, and the entire US, as we confront loss and grief.
Pray for all of them, and for ourselves. May they rest in peace and rise in glory.
These events happen with an obscene rhythm. Already we have the various news stations with reporters standing uselessly in front of the shooting site, or helicoptering around it even more uselessly. The obligatory report standing in front of a hospital is either on the air or will be soon.
Part of the dance macabre is the attempts by both sides of the ongoing firearms law debate to claim victimization. On the one side we have those who favor various laws restricting ownership and use of firearms, claiming that had their laws been in effect, things would be better. On the other side are the advocates for less control claiming that had the law permitted armed teachers and staff, the gunman might have been deterred or at least shot before doing so much damage. Obscenely, both sides have already been heard.
Showing a great deal more class , the White House has observed in response to a question that while there will be a day for debates about firearms laws, this is not that day.
Indeed this is a day for the law enforcement community to be sure that the school and others in the area are as safe as possible. Even if the killer acted alone, one of the horrible facts of our time is that we know about, "copy cat killers." These are sad and pathetic persons who may unleash violence simply because someone else is garnering press coverage for having done so.
This is a day to assure parents that the children will be as safe as possible today and tomorrow.
This is a day to try to understand what happened, who did it, and what possible motivation no matter how pathetic and twisted drove the killer.
Most of all, this is a day to mourn. At least twenty-four persons, humans with souls, minds, futures, and loves given and received, are dead. This is a day to pray. Pray for them, for their loved ones, for their community and for all of us in the larger community, Connecticut, and the entire US, as we confront loss and grief.
Pray for all of them, and for ourselves. May they rest in peace and rise in glory.
No comments:
Post a Comment