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The recent gang rape of a 15 year old girl outside a school dance in Richmond, CA would be an ugly incident all by itself. What makes it even uglier, however, is the fact that a crowd of teenagers stood around watching, cheering and taking pictures during the time this poor girl was being brutalized.
A spokesman for the school in question has disclaimed responsibility by saying it is not our job “to take these students home.” They immediately retreated to the “cover thy ass” position most likely to deflect the massive lawsuits that will be coming their way once this whole ugly incident is sorted out. I can’t blame them for doing that, and while it is very easy to place the blame squarely on the school for not having proper security, I think the blame lies elsewhere.
This is certainly the most heinous case of criminal apathy that I have come across. There have been other incidents where young people overdose at parties and the other kids just leave them there, not caring whether they live or die, but this case reaches a new low. That is something our society seems to be getting better and better at.
I still remember being a teenager, centuries ago, and I remember getting mighty drunk a few times, but I can’t remember ever getting the urge to gather a group of friends together and finding a girl to gang rape. I wonder, how does this mindset occur? Where does the notion come from that this kind of act is acceptable? Can you classify anyone who does think this is acceptable behavior as human?
That last question applies to those who watched as well as those who participated. Who has failed to demonstrate a proper set of values to these children? I think the better question is, where does the blame end? We are all in some way responsible. We allow for the set of circumstances where children can become so desensitized to the suffering of others that this type of behavior becomes possible.
So, is this incident an anomaly, not likely to be repeated, or is this a symptom of the mindset that prevails in today’s young people, where the dehumanization of an innocent young girl is shrugged off and considered unsurprising? The shock factor will remain acute for some time to come, but once that wears off, what are we left with? It could be interpreted as a generation of children without a functional moral compass.
Since Americans find it so necessary to blame someone for incidents like these, I have a suggestion for you. Go look in the mirror, wipe the sleep from your eyes, and do something to counter the endless tide of violent images that are sweeping our children into an immoral cesspool.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
I Hope Everyone Reads This
This will be a short entry. This one doesn't need to be long.
The text of President Obama's speech can be found through this link:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gDqQJuGAC0Xb5hUlwfuOZ-0hr5_gD9AJ0AK80
This speech was so awesome and both simple and significant at the same time. Anyone who was opposed to the President's speech should wear a bright white T-shirt with bold black lettering that says "I am an idiot." All the crap that was being spread around about the President trying to indoctrinate students into some political agenda was just that, crap.
There wasn't a single political element to the President's speech. It was a much needed and overdue call from the rightful leader of this country to the young people who represent the future to focus on themselves for the good of the country. It's too bad the parents of this country don't provide the same kind of leadership to their children.
I applaud the President for making this speech. It may not be recorded as a significant event in the history books of the future, but it still sent a much needed message to the young people who are constantly bombarded with negativity and escapism by a sensationally addicted media. President Obama should make a speech like this every month of the school year until each student is convinced that he or she is important to the future of this once great country and that each of them can make a positive contribution toward reversing the decline that my failing generation is passing on to them. They must take responsibility for themselves and my generation must take responsibility for failing the those who will come after us with our complacency, laziness and collective willingness to embrace ignorance.
The text of President Obama's speech can be found through this link:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gDqQJuGAC0Xb5hUlwfuOZ-0hr5_gD9AJ0AK80
This speech was so awesome and both simple and significant at the same time. Anyone who was opposed to the President's speech should wear a bright white T-shirt with bold black lettering that says "I am an idiot." All the crap that was being spread around about the President trying to indoctrinate students into some political agenda was just that, crap.
There wasn't a single political element to the President's speech. It was a much needed and overdue call from the rightful leader of this country to the young people who represent the future to focus on themselves for the good of the country. It's too bad the parents of this country don't provide the same kind of leadership to their children.
I applaud the President for making this speech. It may not be recorded as a significant event in the history books of the future, but it still sent a much needed message to the young people who are constantly bombarded with negativity and escapism by a sensationally addicted media. President Obama should make a speech like this every month of the school year until each student is convinced that he or she is important to the future of this once great country and that each of them can make a positive contribution toward reversing the decline that my failing generation is passing on to them. They must take responsibility for themselves and my generation must take responsibility for failing the those who will come after us with our complacency, laziness and collective willingness to embrace ignorance.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
A Bad Decision
I have been away from this blog for too long. I have been posting poetry on my other blog. Call it my summer vacation. If Congress can do it, I can too.
Today, the decision was handed down by the California parole board denying Susan Atkins compassionate release. I advocated for her release in one of my last blog entries. I stand by that position.
When I saw the headline on the NY Times blog I was curious to see the comments that would be posted. I was not surprised by the attitude of vengeance and outright bloodthirstiness that was displayed. The question that keeps coming to my mind is, do these people, who aren't afraid to say that Susan Atkins should die in prison, call themselves Christians? They certainly are not thinking in a way that Jesus Christ would find acceptable.
Granted, there were some compassionate and enlightened people posting more thoughtful entries and I applaud them for the depth of their thinking. What is a shameful reflection on our society is that these comments were a small minority of the total.
This is the entry that I posted to the blog this afternoon:
"Shame on all of you people. Maybe you all should try spending an extended time in prison and see if you like it. Susan Atkins is no threat to anyone and her life was taken from her by a long prison sentence. She did commit a terrible crime and she showed no mercy. All of this is true. But are you people not capable of showing mercy yourselves? Do you think that Susan Atkins still has no regrets over what she did? For you to simply brush her off and say that she should die in prison shows the same lack of compassion she displayed to her victims, albeit to a lesser degree. Society needs to move away from this vengeful attitude. With maturity is supposed to come wisdom.The release of the Lockerbie bomber and his subsequent hero’s welcome home should not color the opinion of anyone who looks at this case. It is completely separate and must be examined in a moral vacuum. What lesson do you wish to teach your children, an eye for an eye, or something more noble? I wish all of you haters luck and pray that you never have to face the loss of freedom ms atkins has had to suffer."
My post was directly responded to by a woman named Pam. This was her entry:
"Gee Don, I am pretty sure that all of us “haters” will not face the “loss of freedom ms atkins has had to suffer” given that we are not likely to take part in butchering innocent people who were simply sitting in their own homes.
What lesson are you teaching your children –that no matter what you do, eventually you get out of jail? How much time do you think Susan Atkins should have served, or is it simply the fact that she has cancer that you think justifies her release? Have you ever lost anyone to violent crime?
I didn’t think so."
The first thing that should jump out at you is the condescending tone of her response. She is sarcastically dismissing what I said without taking any of what I wrote seriously. This is a typical anti-intellectual response. It also reflects a lack of understanding of the fact that given the right, or wrong circumstances, depending on how you see it, anyone can end up in prison. People are not just put in prison for murder. This is the point I was addressing when I said that I pray that the haters never have to face the loss of freedom Ms. Atkins has.
Second, she lectures me about loss without knowing anything about me. I called the purveyors of vitriol haters based on their comments. Pam attempts to make a value judgment on my life without knowing what I have gone through and the losses I have suffered. This is, of course, an attempt to deflect my argument away from its essential point, that the matter needs to be examined in a moral vacuum, without emotional aspects injected. This is the only way to discuss a philosophical argument, which is exactly what this discussion should be, not an opportunity for bloodletting.
Third, she asks me what lesson I am teaching my children. The answer to that is simple. If I had the opportunity to teach my children, I would teach them to value self respect and love for others above all else. That IS what Jesus Christ intended for us. If you can adopt an attitude of vengeance and sleep well at night, then you lack a basic ingredient of wisdom and you need to think hard and long about what you are teaching your children.
Finally, to address the question Pam raises about someone who has lost a loved one to violent crime. Has she not heard of the many examples of survivors who have visited those who killed their loved ones in prison and come to forgive them for their crimes? This is the road I would pursue for the sake of intellectualism and personal growth. I would find this alternative far more preferable than living my life while hatred for a single individual ate away at my soul. That is the antithesis of love and life and the road to personal hell, something which I have already extricated myself from.
Today, the decision was handed down by the California parole board denying Susan Atkins compassionate release. I advocated for her release in one of my last blog entries. I stand by that position.
When I saw the headline on the NY Times blog I was curious to see the comments that would be posted. I was not surprised by the attitude of vengeance and outright bloodthirstiness that was displayed. The question that keeps coming to my mind is, do these people, who aren't afraid to say that Susan Atkins should die in prison, call themselves Christians? They certainly are not thinking in a way that Jesus Christ would find acceptable.
Granted, there were some compassionate and enlightened people posting more thoughtful entries and I applaud them for the depth of their thinking. What is a shameful reflection on our society is that these comments were a small minority of the total.
This is the entry that I posted to the blog this afternoon:
"Shame on all of you people. Maybe you all should try spending an extended time in prison and see if you like it. Susan Atkins is no threat to anyone and her life was taken from her by a long prison sentence. She did commit a terrible crime and she showed no mercy. All of this is true. But are you people not capable of showing mercy yourselves? Do you think that Susan Atkins still has no regrets over what she did? For you to simply brush her off and say that she should die in prison shows the same lack of compassion she displayed to her victims, albeit to a lesser degree. Society needs to move away from this vengeful attitude. With maturity is supposed to come wisdom.The release of the Lockerbie bomber and his subsequent hero’s welcome home should not color the opinion of anyone who looks at this case. It is completely separate and must be examined in a moral vacuum. What lesson do you wish to teach your children, an eye for an eye, or something more noble? I wish all of you haters luck and pray that you never have to face the loss of freedom ms atkins has had to suffer."
My post was directly responded to by a woman named Pam. This was her entry:
"Gee Don, I am pretty sure that all of us “haters” will not face the “loss of freedom ms atkins has had to suffer” given that we are not likely to take part in butchering innocent people who were simply sitting in their own homes.
What lesson are you teaching your children –that no matter what you do, eventually you get out of jail? How much time do you think Susan Atkins should have served, or is it simply the fact that she has cancer that you think justifies her release? Have you ever lost anyone to violent crime?
I didn’t think so."
The first thing that should jump out at you is the condescending tone of her response. She is sarcastically dismissing what I said without taking any of what I wrote seriously. This is a typical anti-intellectual response. It also reflects a lack of understanding of the fact that given the right, or wrong circumstances, depending on how you see it, anyone can end up in prison. People are not just put in prison for murder. This is the point I was addressing when I said that I pray that the haters never have to face the loss of freedom Ms. Atkins has.
Second, she lectures me about loss without knowing anything about me. I called the purveyors of vitriol haters based on their comments. Pam attempts to make a value judgment on my life without knowing what I have gone through and the losses I have suffered. This is, of course, an attempt to deflect my argument away from its essential point, that the matter needs to be examined in a moral vacuum, without emotional aspects injected. This is the only way to discuss a philosophical argument, which is exactly what this discussion should be, not an opportunity for bloodletting.
Third, she asks me what lesson I am teaching my children. The answer to that is simple. If I had the opportunity to teach my children, I would teach them to value self respect and love for others above all else. That IS what Jesus Christ intended for us. If you can adopt an attitude of vengeance and sleep well at night, then you lack a basic ingredient of wisdom and you need to think hard and long about what you are teaching your children.
Finally, to address the question Pam raises about someone who has lost a loved one to violent crime. Has she not heard of the many examples of survivors who have visited those who killed their loved ones in prison and come to forgive them for their crimes? This is the road I would pursue for the sake of intellectualism and personal growth. I would find this alternative far more preferable than living my life while hatred for a single individual ate away at my soul. That is the antithesis of love and life and the road to personal hell, something which I have already extricated myself from.
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