Hello one and all!
It has been a while since i have posted on this blog. The process of planning the wedding reception, getting married, and settling into the new Kat flat has been time consuming! But highly recommended :)
But, i'm jumping right into a serious and yet pertinent topic: people are being driven to kill. For the past couple of months, checking the CNN app on my phone for the latest news has only revealed the same troubling headline: murders, killings, suicides all across the U.S. in isolated cases. If becoming a murderer was a disease, it would seem to be spreading more and more each day. Finding a "cure" to fight against this "disease" would naturally be the goal.
If only it were that simple.
Aurora, Colorado: Holmes, Empire State Building, NY: Johnson, Sikh Temple, Wisconsin: Page.
Each of these incidents involved a single man committing murder(s). I've included links to news articles covering each tragedy above. Whenever we hear news of people being killed, it naturally strikes an emotional response within most of us. We feel sadness, sympathy for the victims and their families, etc. How do we react towards the perpetrator, the murderer? It is usually the opposite response: we usually feel anger, hostility, and other strong feelings. I've always taken interest in the way people react to those who do "bad" things. Some react by focusing on justice: "I hope he gets what he deserves." Some focus more on a possible solution for society so that people like them don't murder again: "People like him need to be locked up in jail." Finally, others react by asking, "Why did he do this?"
Finding out the roots can lead us to much more effectively address the problem. We are not talking about a disease that is infecting people; we are talking about individuals each making the decision to kill. We are not talking about people who were born evil or chose to be an evil sociopath going about doing their work; each of these men were born of a mother, had their first birthdays as an infant, grew up learning their ABC's in Kindergarten. Each of these men had hobbies, talents, favorite foods, pets, and friends. Each of them had aspirations, goals, and wishes as a child, a teenager, and adult. They have shared laughs, joy, and meaningful moments with those close to them. Each of them were once an innocent human being who were trying what they could to have a good life. They were not just born evil or just became evil "just because." They used to be regular people, just like you and me. In fact, in many ways, they still are.
One of the main purposes of this topic and actually of this blog is to open your mind up to the real world as it is. Each person on this Earth has his or her own whole life story. Each human being is more important than we usually realize when we see them as "just another name on the headline news." There is so much more to them than we can ever understand. Aren't these things the same thoughts that we feel toward ourselves? Haven't we each wished that we could be understood, valued, and recognized in our lives? Shouldn't we have these same feelings towards others, no matter what they have done?
Now don't get me wrong: I am not for one second saying that we should love them for their criminal acts or respect them for the deviant actions that they have committed. The things that they have done are inexcusable and should not be tolerated in any way by society. They will be known for what they have done for the rest of their lives.
But that is just my point.
Learning about these people, labeling them as "evil and worthless," and throwing them into the mental folder of "abnormal people" is a nearly automatic process that we do in our minds to avoid extra work and pain. We process these people as "different than me" in order to avoid the possible implication that you, yourself, could be capable or likely to do something like that criminal. This is where let our guard down much too far.
Now, i'm going to keep this as pleasant as possible, but this may feel a bit uncomfortable. Consider this for a moment. What if we didn't simply toss criminals or those murderers mentioned above into our minds in the "different than me" folder. What if we took the time to consider them as who they are as human beings? This may be uncomfortable just because this implies that we too might become someone like that if we choose to be. This is naturally undesirable and possibly painful, so we automatically throw them back into that folder. Next time this happens, i encourage you to resist. Instead, i would urge you to consider what you can do to avoid going down the same path as that person. Keep your guard up. Don't let it down. What can you and I do to continually better ourselves so that we will never make such tragic decisions or choose a path that will lead us to such pain and guilt. I submit to you that such moments can build character and fortify yourself in ways that you have possibly never considered before.
Remember this: inside each of us is an innate good, a desire to be happy and beneficial to those around us. Don't ever choose to stifle that good inside you. Inside each of us is a good heart, with infinite growth and potential.
Ending note: As you have read this article, I hope that you have been able to learn something new that could be beneficial to you. However, there are on occasion times when we learn something undesirable or hard to take in. Some things we read may make us feel uncomfortable. If you ever feel this way, please be sure to send me a message privately and let me know so that we can talk about those feelings. Sometimes our mind just has a hard time knowing how to process or feel about things that are uncomfortable to learn. Debriefing during these periods can help immensely.
It has been a while since i have posted on this blog. The process of planning the wedding reception, getting married, and settling into the new Kat flat has been time consuming! But highly recommended :)
But, i'm jumping right into a serious and yet pertinent topic: people are being driven to kill. For the past couple of months, checking the CNN app on my phone for the latest news has only revealed the same troubling headline: murders, killings, suicides all across the U.S. in isolated cases. If becoming a murderer was a disease, it would seem to be spreading more and more each day. Finding a "cure" to fight against this "disease" would naturally be the goal.
If only it were that simple.
How We React
Aurora, Colorado: Holmes, Empire State Building, NY: Johnson, Sikh Temple, Wisconsin: Page.
Each of these incidents involved a single man committing murder(s). I've included links to news articles covering each tragedy above. Whenever we hear news of people being killed, it naturally strikes an emotional response within most of us. We feel sadness, sympathy for the victims and their families, etc. How do we react towards the perpetrator, the murderer? It is usually the opposite response: we usually feel anger, hostility, and other strong feelings. I've always taken interest in the way people react to those who do "bad" things. Some react by focusing on justice: "I hope he gets what he deserves." Some focus more on a possible solution for society so that people like them don't murder again: "People like him need to be locked up in jail." Finally, others react by asking, "Why did he do this?"
Finding out the roots can lead us to much more effectively address the problem. We are not talking about a disease that is infecting people; we are talking about individuals each making the decision to kill. We are not talking about people who were born evil or chose to be an evil sociopath going about doing their work; each of these men were born of a mother, had their first birthdays as an infant, grew up learning their ABC's in Kindergarten. Each of these men had hobbies, talents, favorite foods, pets, and friends. Each of them had aspirations, goals, and wishes as a child, a teenager, and adult. They have shared laughs, joy, and meaningful moments with those close to them. Each of them were once an innocent human being who were trying what they could to have a good life. They were not just born evil or just became evil "just because." They used to be regular people, just like you and me. In fact, in many ways, they still are.
What Are We to Think?
One of the main purposes of this topic and actually of this blog is to open your mind up to the real world as it is. Each person on this Earth has his or her own whole life story. Each human being is more important than we usually realize when we see them as "just another name on the headline news." There is so much more to them than we can ever understand. Aren't these things the same thoughts that we feel toward ourselves? Haven't we each wished that we could be understood, valued, and recognized in our lives? Shouldn't we have these same feelings towards others, no matter what they have done?
Now don't get me wrong: I am not for one second saying that we should love them for their criminal acts or respect them for the deviant actions that they have committed. The things that they have done are inexcusable and should not be tolerated in any way by society. They will be known for what they have done for the rest of their lives.
But that is just my point.
Learning about these people, labeling them as "evil and worthless," and throwing them into the mental folder of "abnormal people" is a nearly automatic process that we do in our minds to avoid extra work and pain. We process these people as "different than me" in order to avoid the possible implication that you, yourself, could be capable or likely to do something like that criminal. This is where let our guard down much too far.
Now, i'm going to keep this as pleasant as possible, but this may feel a bit uncomfortable. Consider this for a moment. What if we didn't simply toss criminals or those murderers mentioned above into our minds in the "different than me" folder. What if we took the time to consider them as who they are as human beings? This may be uncomfortable just because this implies that we too might become someone like that if we choose to be. This is naturally undesirable and possibly painful, so we automatically throw them back into that folder. Next time this happens, i encourage you to resist. Instead, i would urge you to consider what you can do to avoid going down the same path as that person. Keep your guard up. Don't let it down. What can you and I do to continually better ourselves so that we will never make such tragic decisions or choose a path that will lead us to such pain and guilt. I submit to you that such moments can build character and fortify yourself in ways that you have possibly never considered before.
Remember this: inside each of us is an innate good, a desire to be happy and beneficial to those around us. Don't ever choose to stifle that good inside you. Inside each of us is a good heart, with infinite growth and potential.
Ending note: As you have read this article, I hope that you have been able to learn something new that could be beneficial to you. However, there are on occasion times when we learn something undesirable or hard to take in. Some things we read may make us feel uncomfortable. If you ever feel this way, please be sure to send me a message privately and let me know so that we can talk about those feelings. Sometimes our mind just has a hard time knowing how to process or feel about things that are uncomfortable to learn. Debriefing during these periods can help immensely.
I love my husband :)
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