One of the reasons I don’t like taking a tragedy or a national event and turning into a pedestal for my favorite political or cultural issues is that everyone draws “lessons” from these events. Many are contradictory and most are overblown.
Below is a list of the “lessons” that we as a society should learn from this act of violence:
We need less guns. If only gun laws were tougher and it was more difficult for people to obtain a gun this wouldn’t have happened.
We need more guns. If only everyone on the campus of Virginia Tech had been carrying like at Appalachian State this wouldn’t have happened.
We need to recognize and react to warning signs. If only someone had saw that this guy was crazy they could have had him locked away.
We need better care for mentally unstable individuals. If only he had received better mental care he could have been cured.
We need less violent movies. If only he didn’t watch violent movies over and over again he wouldn’t have gotten the idea.
We need more Christianity. If only he had been in church he would have known what he was about to do was wrong.
We need less Christianity. If only religion did not play such a strong role in America, this kid could have grown up without the undue pressure and he wouldn’t have snapped.
We need less atheism. If only he wasn’t an atheist ranting about being Jesus and the Columbine killers being martyrs this wouldn’t have happened.
We need better campus security. If only campus had been locked down and students informed this tragedy wouldn’t have happened.
We need to pay more attention. If only someone would have just listened to this boy and gave his some attention he wouldn’t have acted out like this.
We need to pay less attention. If only killers weren’t glorified by the media he wouldn’t have tried to kill people to seek his 15 minutes.
We need more profiling. If we profiled people more this killer could have been recognized and this wouldn’t have happened.
We need less profiling. If we didn’t treat minorities as automatic suspects in crimes, Cho wouldn’t have felt so alone.
We need less racism. If only the white majority at Virginia Tech and America would be more welcoming for minorities he wouldn’t have acted in such rage.
We need less bullying. If only the Cho had not been picked on and bullied for being different he wouldn’t have taken out his aggression like he did.
We need more morals. If only our country had not left its moral base then the student would not have acted this way.
We need less morals. If only our society did not place undue “moral standards” on individuals, the shooter wouldn’t have lashed out.
We need more courage and male brevado. If only the students especially the guys had jumped the shooter at once, he wouldn’t have kept killing.
We need less courage and male brevado. If only our culture did not teach our little boys that aggression was the way to solve answers this wouldn’t have happened.
And it goes on and on with whatever possible cause and lesson you can draw from this situation. My point is that numerous points can be derived from horrible situations – some of which may be right. Honestly none of us know exactly what could have prevented this senseless act. With that I will add my own lesson:
We need to know our own ignorance. If only we didn’t think we knew everything about situations that we honestly don’t know much about we wouldn’t get in as much trouble.
BTW, VT is Vermont. I think you mean VA.
And btw, I would argue that we need to do many things, in balance. Most people choose one side of the coin and deride the other.
So, I look at your list and say that by force of reason we CAN learn and do certain things, after doing some root cause analysis.
Guns
We need more guns, but with better gun control so that the RIGHT people have guns. Less guns means more victims, and less power to protect one’s self.
Recognition and treatment of mental disorders
As I like to say, NO system of government can govern an immoral people. No matter how many mental health programs we start, if we fail to address the root causes of mental disorders, which are the reality of individual sin, family breakdown, unjust laws and inconsistent enforcement, we will get nowhere.
Civil diagnosis can only go so far before we start infringing on people’s rights. This killer, he was once forced into psychological care. Did that infringe on his rights? Maybe it did.
Sure, we can improve mental care, but again, that is often treating the symptom, not the cause, and is too far down the chain of causation. Ultimately, we need to educate and preach public morality, and also christians need to preach the gospel.
Movies and video games
We’ve got a rating system, that’s plenty. People have the right to demand what they want. Parents have the ability now to filter out stuff. While these media items might unfortunately give unstable people the ideas, so does the newspaper. I think focusing on these is a waste of time, and I don’t think these are at the root. You could argue that we need a multi-pronged approach, but I’d say this one goes down to the “not so important” part of the list. And Sam agrees with me (good thing, bad thing? LOL), so we must be right ;)
The role of faith/atheism in violence
I think this one is “easy” too. Bad religion, of course, leads to craziness. So does hopelessness, a key “feature” of atheism ;) Healthy faith leads to sanity. I would include both xianity AND some forms of Buddhism in this category. In any case, I think the issue is a lack of love and forgiveness, not just the absence or presence of faith.
Profiling
As I like to say, stereotypes aren’t bad, they’re very useful, and are only bad if you abuse them. Profiling is the same. If we know that most serial killers are 30 something white males, it’s a good idea to keep that in mind while we look for such a killer, as long as we don’t consider it a foregone conclusion. If someone looks out of place in a neighborhood, it is a good guess to think that they are up to no good, be they a young white person cruising in a black section of town where drugs are usually sold, or conversely.
Aggression and male bravado
We need to teach valor and bravery, and the ability to fight for just causes, rather than the other two extremes – creating passive, unmanly boys or aggressive bullies who look for a fight.
I think the martial arts perspective is one of the best – try to avoid a fight, but be prepared to defend yourself or the helpless if need be. And be prepared to kick butt, because we live in a world where evil is real.
Seeker,
VT is actually correct when referring to Virginia Tech, wich is what the reference was to.
We need more guns, but with better gun control so that the RIGHT people have guns. Less guns means more victims, and less power to protect one’s self.
That statement is an oxymoron. The very nature of gun control means that there is an inherent limitation on who can own a gun and under what circumstances. That translates into fewer guns on the streets.
On the flip side of the coin, even if your statement above was not pure gibberish and was true, then by having less guns in a world where gun control does not limit ownership in any way, then you would not be any less or more safe…BECAUSE there are more guns on the streets.
You have put forward a flawed argument Seeker. You need to drink more coffee before writing something like this (sorry to get personal–but I AM SHOCKED), because I have never seen something this flawed come out you before.
If there are LESS guns on the streets and guns placed in the hands of the RIGHT people then there is less death. More guns in the hands gives an increasing rise to Vigilantism.
I know you will cite studies on a state by state basis to counter this. Go ahead. I will pull up national studies that will prove my point.
– Silver
That statement is an oxymoron. The very nature of gun control means that there is an inherent limitation on who can own a gun and under what circumstances. That translates into fewer guns on the streets.
Not necessarily. It may mean merely a redistribution, though you are right, there may be too many out there. But how many people do you know that own a gun? If it’s less than 30%, I’d say that, in light of the increased violence encouraged by Islam and other evil ideologies, we may need more guns in the RIGHT hands.
even if your statement above was not pure gibberish and was true
Ok, I am not going to answer that question due to your insult. Nice logical approach ;)
You have put forward a flawed argument Seeker.
I disagree. While having more guns seems counter-intuitive, it is merely countering the simplistic logic of gun control advocates. Ideas such as those in the tipping point are counter-intuitive at first, yet in practice work well.
While statistics can be mishandled and misinterpreted, there are studies that show that increased gun ownership reduces certain types of crimes (and increases others, I would guess). My point is, your rejection of my argument as “nonsense” is “nonsense.” I am making an arguable claim that has some statistical backing.
Rising Gun Ownership Has Helped Cut Murder Rates for Americans Over 25, New Study Says
This article discusses why some of the gun-control studies that conclude otherwise make bad assumptions in collecting and interpreting their data.
Gun Control: Myths and Realities (CATO Inst.)
Can Gun Control Reduce Crime?
And I’ve had plenty of pepsi today.