Shootings-Part II

Shootings-Part II
(Off Topic)

Talking about the scourge of mass shootings in our country, God came up. I was told there’s everything happens for a reason, that there is a bigger picture.
I hate it when people explain away tragedies with clichés. We’ve all heard them. “There’s a greater good,” or, “a bigger picture.” Or, best of all, “Everything happens for a reason.”

Bullshit.

“It’s part of God’s lesson.”

Bullshit.

Don’t insult God by saying he needs to kill children to prove a point. And if he does, shame on him. There’s no greater good that involves sacrificing babies and little kids. To say so, you have to place a low value on their lives. I wonder how can anyone with kids feel that way?

And don’t tell me we’ve learned a lesson.
Did you know the murderer at Virginia Tech last year and the murderer at NIU last week both bought guns from the same online dealer? Lesson? This guy can still sell guns, too. What’s wrong with this picture?
From the Spanish Inquisition to the Holocaust in Europe, to Stalin’s extermination of millions of Russians, to Pol Pot, to Idi Amin, Oklahoma City, 9/11 and what’s going on in the middle east today, to our rash of pointless shootings in the USA, and on and on infinitely, human beings have shown we’re remarkably good at learning nothing.
We still divide each other every way we can at every opportunity. Black vs. white, American vs. whatever, Muslim vs. Christian, gay vs. straight, man vs. woman, etc.
We’re still too stupid too see we’re all human and all fighting for the same resources. And we’ve been around for more than 100,000 years. I suppose people who subscribe to a literal interpretation of the bible or the Quran will argue that, too.
My point is, sometimes awful things happen for no reason. Sometimes there is no good. Sometimes there is no lesson, or at least people don’t learn it. If we did, and we’re as intelligent as we claim, wouldn’t we have learned by now?

I once had a professor ask of our class, “Imagine if I told you I could get rid of all evil in the world simply by killing one person.”
He pointed to a young man in class.
Everybody, including, I believe the young man said, yes, that would be great.
Everybody, that is, except me.
Then he asked, “What if I had to kill two people?” Then the question became three. Then a hundred. Then a thousand. Slowly, more people began to hesitate.
Then the question became six million, and his point was made, but, sadly, a lot of people still hadn’t caught on. Not until he said, “Sixty years ago, someone said if he could just get rid of six million bad people, the world would be a perfect utopia.”

Too often people think they have the answers, often without investigating.
Was it right to nail Jesus to a cross? Was it right to kill people suspected of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts?
The people in charge at those times and places thought so.

If you really think things happen for a reason, then please, tell me the reason for the Holocaust. We say six million Jews were killed, but that’s just a number until you watch Schindler’s list and see trucks full of children being carted off to be murdered. Until you picture your own children. You realize how many supposedly good people had to be silent to allow it.
If that’s really part of God’s plan, or if there’s a bigger picture I’m not seeing, please somebody, tell me what that is.
I’m not saying this to bash God. Maybe God isn’t the only force in the universe. You can’t have good without evil. But there’s no good in murder. Maybe I just have a hard time accepting these things because I have a beautiful three year old boy. When I see someone decide he’s going to end his life and others with him, all I can picture is my son someday being in the wrong place at the wrong time. What kind of pain are the parents of the victims going through now? Or even the parents of the shooter? What did they do wrong? Please don’t tell me there’s a greater good.