The Face of Evil

As a nation, we came face to face with evil once again last week. This time the evil was particularly cruel and terrifying. As a parent and grandparent, I cannot comprehend how a human being could look into the beautiful faces of little 6 and 7 year old children and then pump multiple bullets into their small bodies.

One little boy was quoted as telling his Father their had been an "animal" in the school! In his child's mind, only an animal could have wrecked such horror on innocent children and their teachers. I'm not sure I don't agree with him in some ways.

I'm a Texan. I don't often agree with the President, but I do agree with him that these increasing attacks on the innocent are unacceptable. I'm rational enough to know we can never stop them altogether in a free society, but we have to make them very rare. As a Texan and a gun owner, I'm supportive of the right of every rational and law abiding citizen to bear arms. I am not; however, supportive of a citizens's right to bear any type of arm he desires. I've been appalled when I take my son to the shooting range and see guys out there with high powered military grade weapons. No "citizen" needs such weapons.

But weapons are only one part of the problem; and, I think, the smaller part of the problem. The bigger issue is the human being who is using the weapon as a way to express himself.

We do not yet know what emotions, distress or pain the perpetrator of this unspeakable act was trying to express. But I particularly liked the comment by one psychologist being interviewed on television. He said, "no matter what the young man might have been thinking or feeling, no matter what name might be given to his psychological condition, there was no excuse for his actions!

I believe this psychologist is absolutely correct. Over the last couple of decades, the "Politically Correct Movement" has engulfed our nation, we have become a nation of victims. In the eyes of the PC crowd none of us bear any responsibility for ourselves. We are all victims. We can't help what we have become because we are poor through no fault of our own. We are victims because we didn't have the same chances in life as our more successful citizens had. We are victims because we got hooked into the drug world. We are victims because nobody liked us and we were bullied. We are victims because we are a part of a racial minority. The list goes on and on and one.

The truth is, unless they kill us outright, we are not victims unless we choose to be. Those 20 sweet little babies just beginning their lives were true victims of evil. Those of us who survive them are not victims unless we choose to be! The PC crowd needs to get this through their narrow minds and stop coaching people on how to be victims.

I was impressed greatly with what one father of one of the little girls had to say. He acknowledged his unbearable sorrow and his love for his daughter. Then he vowed that he and his wife were going to do their best to not let this tragedy define them and he urged others to follow the same course. With that heroic vow which will be ever so hard to keep, he declared to the world that he and his wife were not victims. Here is a man and wife who have been hurt beyond our ability to comprehend; and yet, they refuse to wear the label of victim. They understand that incarnate evil could and did take their daughter from them; but they also understand how they carry on after this despicable act is their choice. It is a lesson for us all.

As Americans, as human beings, we need to learn that every time we label people, hold them up as unacceptable, bully them or simply ignore them we are sewing the seeds of anger, separations, pain and disillusionment. In today's world, those seeds can altogether too easily sprout, bloom and come back to bite us horribly.

Last week, I attended a party hosted my by gay friends. The party was significant because my gay friends who are partners were the only gay people there. Everyone else was married and straight. Nobody cared that their hosts were a gay couple. They are accepted in the neighborhood, not just tolerated but loved and accepted. The world should be that way. If it were, we would see less of what we saw last week.

If each young man filled with rage, anger and a need for retaliation would realize that everyone has bad things in their lives, but the measure of life is not what happens to you.  Instead it is how you react to it. With that realization, there would be fewer events like that of last week.

It's almost impossible for me to feel sorry for shooters. As the little boy mentioned above, I tend to see them as animals. I guess it is part of my coping system. But if I could feel sorry for them, I'd feel sorry that they more than likely did what they did to call attention upon themselves and their burdens and they never knew that they failed. Society just considers them criminals at best, animals at worst.

Life is simply too short for feeling sorry for oneself. It is imperative that each of us reacts realistically to who and what we are in this life. We chance what we can and we grow into and become at peace with what we are. To put that into the context of this blog, married bisexual and homosexual men are faced with the same choices. We can rail against our sexuality. We can even let it destroy our lives, or we can embrace it and live life joyfully and effectively. I chose the latter.

Jack Scott