The Sandy Hook tragedy is already imprinted in the minds of American citizens as one of the worst killings that have ever taken place in US history. You can remember it, the exact moment you heard the news that 20 young kindergarteners and first graders were shot to death. Emotions and images flashed through your being. Inevitably, we turn our thoughts to the shooter, the Adam Lanza, and our emotions turn to high boil. I have seen people post and express about their anger, hate, or desires for greater justice or revenge upon those responsible. I say "those responsible" because I have seen that same anger and resentment directed towards gun supporters, the government, our social systems, the shooter's family, and other issues at hand. In the end, our mind inevitably searches for the greatest question facing us at this moment: WHY?
Our Own Reactions Weaken Us
What kind of person was Adam Lanza? What kind of person could he have been that caused such a person to commit such a horrible act? I have heard him called "insane." Others may have called him a monster, psycho, or evil. Some don't care who he is as much as what they wished him a much more horrible death or punishment for his crimes. What do you think? Is he evil? Born a murderer, deserving of no mercy?
Think about these reactions and your own reactions for a moment. Are you labeling, cursing, or degrading the character of Adam Lanza in an attempt to separate the likeness of your own character to his? Most of us are not even conscious of such a defense mechanism, but it is nonetheless very real and very common to react like this. The more we insult, curse, and view others as unearthly, inhuman, evil people, the more we mentally separate ourselves from them. The greater this effort to separate ourselves from those we perceive as evil or bad, the more indicative it is that inside, we do not want to handle the pain or discomfort of considering the possibility that we could be like that person. Our unconscious does a great job at protecting us from this pain, but it only serves to leave us vulnerable to go down the path to becoming like that "evil" person.
Yes, we are all capable of doing the very same thing that Adam Lana did in Sandy Hook Elementary. It is what we choose to do with such knowledge that truly keeps us from going down that same path. My last blog entry talked all about how our reactions to those who we consider "evil" can leave us open to becoming one of them and how to avoid that. Here's a link: How Would You React to a Criminal?
What Was The Cause?
Yes, Adam Lanza was a human being, no less valuable and deserving of love than you or me. But what caused him to become who he became and commit such a massacre of innocent lives? To answer that question, we have to take a look into our views of human nature: are we born inherently good or bad? Are we all evil at heart and need to continually seek to be good? Or are we good at heart and bad forces in the world just make us bad if we are not careful?
So what do you think, are we born evil? Or are we born good? Let me know what you think in the comment section below.
To be Continued!
