**Disclaimer- If you take offense to this all I will say is that I'm sorry you feel that way. This is my opinion.
I know that I’m about to offend several people with what I’m
about to say. We can all agree that what happened at Sandy Hook
Elementary School in Newtown, CT
is a horrible tragedy. It’s something that when you hear about it, you hear
what those children and adults went through and it strikes this fear and pain
inside you. How could someone not only kill his own mother but then murder 6
adults and 20 children? This coward took away the lives of 20 babies and
destroyed every single one of their families in the process. These are children
that will never go to prom, experience college life or grow old. But that’s not
the part that’s going to offend some of you. The next part is.
What I’m having a hard time understanding (besides why this guy would
do this) is what I’ve been seeing on Facebook and Twitter. There are so many
posts and pictures being shared stating that it’s time to put God back into
schools. It seems as if it’s being implied that this atrocious incident is the
result of prayer no longer being allowed in school.
Before I go any further I just want to explain that I do believe in
God. I may not go to church or completely follow my Catholic faith; however I
do believe that God is with me and in my heart. What I do not believe is that
this heart wrenching massacre is the result of prayer not being allowed in
schools. If that is truly the reason will someone please explain why the Amish
school shooting happened? Just to refresh, October 2, 2006, a milk man took a
small Amish school hostage, shot 10 girls, killed 5 and my understanding of
that culture is that they are a highly religious people.
All of these posts about letting God back into the school system is
making it seem like God is this egotistical and vengeful being and that in
order for the poor fella to get any attention is to somehow make this guy force
his way into an elementary school and murder innocent children and adults. I
really doubt that God has the attitude of an angry 14 year old girl and is
sitting up in Heaven with Elvis and James Dean saying, “See! I told you this
would happen when they banned me from school.” It shouldn’t matter if prayer is
or isn’t allowed in school. What would the argument be if he had gone to a
Christian or Catholic or Quaker or Muslim or whatever other religious school. The
actions that were committed that day were done by a man with guns, not God.
As I said earlier, God is with me and in my heart and I believe that
when those shots rang out he was with those students and faculty. I believe
that he was with them and apologized that their lives were cut so short and so tragically.
I also view those teachers and faculty members that protected those students as
angels and as heroes. They went above
and beyond the call of duty to protect all those children and that just warms
my heart to know there are people like that in the world. A person that would
do anything, risk their own life, for someone else. We need more people like
that in this world.
Sometimes, I like to tell myself that they just need a reason to explain away the bad things in the world. They need their scapegoats, their excuses, and their reasonings because otherwise they'd have to admit that meaningless tragedies happen to good people without God intervening to help.
ReplyDeleteThat, my friend, is such a good point. I think it just boggles me that some people are so bothered by the fact that prayer is banned that when you think about it, if a person truly beleive in God, he's always with you. It's not like those children and adults walked into the building and God was like, "Well, I'll see you after school since I can't come in and all."
ReplyDeleteSo true sweetie and thanks for posting it. I think also what saddens me is to hear how many people are blaming President Obama,Democrats and Liberals.Really? I was listening to one such woman (Against my will)complain about Obama during his condolence speech yesterday,as I am trying to hear what our President is trying to choke out,the last part I heard him say was something like "...they will never get married,have children, etc" and I know that is not an accurate quote,all of a sudden the lady blurts out even louder "See!!! I told you it's his fault! He did not even say they are missing Christmas!!!He can't even say Christmas because he's a evil Muslim!!!" She made me sick.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree on all points being made. Another thing I'd Ike to add is I don't particularly like how the media handles these situations. They get so wrapped up on finding out who, what, and why of the person who committed the atrocity that the victims eventually get put to the side. And it shouldn't be that way. Months from now the lives of those lost will be forgotten by most and we will still be talking about him. Same thing happen with Aurora, CO. My point is this, the media glamorizes actions like these giving the potential rise for more idiots who want to be famous an avenue. Is the media to blame? That's not what I'm saying but they need to act with more caution and sensitivity in these types of events.
ReplyDeleteBecca- I cannot stand people like that. They show a lack of respect, blurt out misinformation and miss the point completely. How was it his fault anyway?? Instead of understanding that this is a tragedy and we should all come together they find some where (or someone0 to place blame.
ReplyDeleteSteve (aka anonymous- I totally see where you're coming from. I think when something like this first comes out we tend to want to know every detail of every person involved. For me, it's just a way for me to cope and understand why he did what he did. But I completely agree that instead of putting all the focus on the this monster of person we should instead focus on the victims and the heroes involved. I don't think they are COMPLETELY to blame but they could be more understanding. Like that photographer that took a picture of the man was hit by a subway train. He claims he took the picture so that the flash would alert the conductor but it makes you wonder if that guy would be alive today if the photographer put his camera on the ground and tried to help the man.