Right now all over the world people are reading and watching with dry mouths and misty eyes, cold hearts and clammy hands, about the worst shooting in United States history and deciding that if humanity is capable of such twisted feats, we must be innately bad. As individuals, we form our opinion on human nature by examining our very essence and the way we feel about ourselves, the actions we observe within our family, the literature we read, and most prominently the stories we hear on the news. In times like these when our hearts are aching and laughing seems like a guilty indulgence and when there are so many to mourn, calling man nothing less than primitive and savage is a knee jerk reaction to the actions of an outlier of the human race; Omar Mateen Does. Not. Define. Us.
Omar Mateen has effectively sent a ripple of fear throughout the country. He has added to the list another public place we will now think “what if” when going to among movie theaters and concert halls, and he has taken the life of 49 people who were far too young to die. When looking at his actions it appears that he is innately bad, no dispute needed, but just because he has turned into something twisted does not mean that he is a reflection humanity’s disposition holistically. I have read various philosophers and authors that are convinced that man is bad, but an essential part of me, that some call naïve, will always vie for a humanity that, when all is said is done, is purely good. As time has gone on, I have learned to curve my view on humanity because after so many shootings and learning about so many genocides even I understand that an innately good person cannot go to an elementary school and murder 26 people, many children, or into a nightclub and shoot 49. I now believe that people are born with the capacity to live a life in which being established as good or bad is a choice decided not only by them but by the interactions others chose to have with them.
Albus Dumbledore expressed to Harry Potter that “Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic” and though it may seem insensitive to invoke pop culture into a somber topic, I feel that J.K Rowling has effectively conveyed an important idea that we must all keep in mind every single day. Words are incredibly powerful, they not only express what we think, they shape how we think. We must use words as vehicles of hate not love. It does not take much to ask someone how their day is, to hear out their explanation of something they believe in without interrupting, or to say something silly to them to make them laugh when they look upset. Everyone knows how the smallest act of kindness can brighten a day and make a large impact on the outlook of their day. It’s not rocket science that choosing to be nice goes a lot farther than choosing to be spiteful and mean. A few years back, Omar Mateen was investigated after making some comments to a coworker that were alarming including conversation on radical Islam, however it has also surfaced that, “He admitted making the statements his co-workers reported, but explained that he did it in anger because he thought his co-workers were discriminating against him and teasing him because he was Muslim.” Of course, this claim is coming from someone who is sick with hate and maybe even paranoia so that statement cannot be fully trusted, but something can be learned from it. We don’t know yet what other factors were thrown into Mateen’s life that made him the way he is, but what if people at work took the time to ask him about his religion and tried to understand it instead of making it the end of their jokes like he claimed, would things turn out differently? This is not saying that his co-workers are responsible for the shooting, they are not at all, but ultimately they held some stake in his life it by how the treated him just as everyone did who interacted with him.
A quote that has literally been ringing in my head for over a day not is from the sonnet Lin-Manuel Miranda read at the Tony’s in which he exclaimed, “And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love cannot be killed or swept aside” it’s a fairly obvious statement but the reputation of his main point creates those who listen to it to really sit down and think if they actually understand that love is love. Something that caught my eye scrolling through my Instagram was a post that quotes Justin Forrest Miles reading, “If you have the heart to mourn people when they die, have the heart to accept them while they’re alive.” Why is it so easy to feel for someone once they have passed, but just as easy to hate them for their life style while they are living? This world is too easily swayed by the illusion of hate, it is not used correctly and is more of a colloquial cover for people we dislike or disagree with. I’m guilty, as are most people, when I say that “ I hate so and so” but in truth I'm privileged to live a life in which I hate no one. As our parent’s and teachers have told us, “Hate is a strong word” and it really is. To hate means to abhor every single fiber of someone’s being, to concede that there is not an inkling of good or kindness in someone’s body, and to label them as innately bad. Just because someone lives their life in a way that you do not, is not always grounds for you to hate them and if you cannot accept them at least tolerate them. At this crucial time in history we cannot afford to have an abundance of hate tossed around with no substance to back it, we need an excess of love and kindness, and we must remember that love always Trumps hate.
