I am sick to my stomach about the shootings in Orlando. I am deeply saddened. I am angry.
There can be no rational excuse for this behavior. There can only be sick, intolerant,
sociopathic reasons a person with a gun shot and killed Christian Grimmie after
a concert, and a person with two guns shot and killed 49 people in a
nightclub. If I am sick, if I am
mourning, if I am angry, there must be people who are celebrating.
We know the nightclub shooter was an ISIS supporter. ISIS is celebrating. Here was an attack on American infidels made
more justifiable in that the club catered to LGBT customers. ISIS has absolutely no tolerance for people
who do not believe as they believe and the murder of those who think
differently than them is religiously justified.
I suspect, however, that ISIS has no celebration over Christina’s death
other than their deep belief that women should remain covered and obedient and
low profile and subservient. Christina
was none of those things. For some
reason this gunman was anti-Christina and we do not know why, but like the
nightclub gunman he had issues with Christina so he killed her. I do not like you, you should die. I do not agree with you, you should die. I do not support what you stand for, you
should die. Sick, sick, sick. More so if religion somehow provides the
justification for such hideous action.
But none of these celebratory groups are a great
surprise. They are so far removed from
mainstream American thought that we expect deviant, socially ill behavior from
them. But what about groups that may
celebrate who are more mainstream? What
about the groups that support the pre-requisites for such killings?
For example, I am heterosexual but I support lesbian,
bisexual, gay and transgender rights. I
do not believe folks should be punished for their sexual orientation or
identity. Therefore, I celebrated the
new bathroom guidelines allowing folks to use a restroom based on their sexual
identity. I support the right, I support
the result. I do not celebrate the
hostility that has emerged from these rules, but I support the daily choice
that people with different sexual identities can practice. Every male who sees himself as a female in a
ladies’ room and every female who sees herself as a male in a men’s room becomes
cause for celebration, not fear or anger or attack. That is not true for the intolerant. Like ISIS they have a set of beliefs and if
one does not subscribe to those beliefs one is subject to discrimination,
harassment, even attacks. Again, all
made worse by their religious beliefs. I
see no difference in the men guarding women’s bathrooms than ISIS members
attacking infidels.
The Bible and the Quran agree on the nature of
homosexuality. Both the Old and New
Testament declare such action as sinful, so much so that homosexuals should be
stoned to death. The Quran says exactly
the same thing. The modern day
Christian, however, has cherry-picked the Bible so that only modern belief
systems are supported. Modern day
Muslims not so much.
And about the guns: I
am simply flabbergasted by the defense of easy access to firearms. I see no logic, except perhaps fear and
power, two not so grand motivations. If
we can agree that mentally disturbed people and people with violent tendencies
should not own weapons, then does it not follow that anyone who wants an AR-15 is mentally disturbed with violent tendencies?
Applying for a license with a background check and eliminating the
purchase of semi-automatic military grade weapons is not in any way an effort
to take guns out of the hands of hunters and sportsmen. (I do believe there is a good argument
regarding the stability of people who shoot mammals with high-powered rifles
from a safe distance. So sad. You want to mount a buffalo head in your
office? Get on a horse with a bow and
arrow and chase one down. You cannot
claim testosterone or skill for high powered weaponry shot from a distance any
more than there is credit for shooting fish in a barrel.)
If your religious beliefs promote the hatred and scorn of
some people and not others, it is time to consider changing beliefs. If your sense of constitutional rights
includes the purchase of weapons anytime, anywhere by anyone, then you should
be an equally strong supporter of other constitutional rights like freedom of
speech, freedom from religion, freedom from self-incrimination, and protection
of minority rights. My sense is that the
very people who want unlimited interpretation of the 2nd amendment
are very quick to oppose 1st and 14th amendment rights.
Anytime anyone, anywhere shoots and kills others, or
promotes the shooting and killing of others, or supports the banishment of
others who simply have a different belief system, such a person proves themselves to be anti-religious and
anti-American. I’m sick of such
folks. I shall not attack them, I shall
not harass them and I definitely shall not shoot them. I hope to provoke their thinking. They have an absolute right to such an
opinion even if they are wrong.
And that is what real freedom is.
