In light of the recent shooting in Orlando, I feel the need to point out something that I personally feel is very important. On every social media platform I partake in, I've noticed a truly despicable trend. As a country, we must stop politicizing every act of brutality; we must stop trying to warp tragedy to fit our own personal agendas; and we must stop placing blame where it does not belong.
Politics are so entrenched in today's society, that we seem to be having difficulty separating political beliefs and opinions from the rest of our thoughts. Instead of twisting and contorting this horrific act of violence and hate to fit a political agenda, we need to rally behind the friends and families of the victims. They are what is important now, not petty political views, and certainly not the Republicans pointing fingers at a Democratic president's failures or the Democrats pointing fingers at the Republicans refusal to compromise on gun control.
On that note, I will point out that now is not the time to advocate for gun control or pro Second Amendment rights. Now is not the time to bash Muslims or spread more hatred. Now is the time to take care of those most deeply affected. Now is the time to lend our support to the victims and be strong as a community, not tear each other apart based on differences in opinion. It does not matter if these people were gay, straight, black or white. They were human beings and to degrade or use that loss to ones own advantage is unpalatable.
Lastly, we must face the fact that in the end, there is only one person we can blame for this atrocity. The person to blame here is the man who decided to walk into that club and murder innocent people. It is not the fault of the president or the police; it is not the fault of you or me. Personal accountability is something we have begun to lose a grasp on. Now, I understand the desire to sling mud and place blame when faced with such an inhuman act, but we have to realize that acts of violence like this are meant to try and divide us and we cannot let that happen.
In short, let's put down our personal weaponry: our words, our keyboards, the sound bites and headlines, enough shots have been fired already. There are many important issues in our country that need to be discussed, but using the Orlando shooting to do it is not the way to go about it. My heart goes out to the many people affected, and I wish them all the best on the long road to recovery.
