On June 11, the United States of America faced yet another tragedy. With 49 left dead, 53 injured, people were captivated by the event that had occurred within our borders, within our home.
What happened in Orlando left me nothing less than angry, annoyed, upset, and teary-eyed as the story unfolded on national television.
This, of course, got me thinking, not only about the tragedy in Orlando, but about everything. This included San Bernardino and Chattanooga. It also raised questions. Angry questions. Confusion. So, here is what I have to say:
1. It seems to be a trend that Americans will get their panties in a bunch because of these attacks until they trickle their way out of news stories and people return to their normal lives, confused when they continue to happen repeatedly.
Something needs to be done, and something should have been done after Chattanooga and after San Bernardino. Saying that Americans need to come together is not going to stop the terrorists from hating us, and it sure as hell isn’t going to stop them from trying to destroy us. This is not a hard concept.
2. There’s another trend when it comes to shootings such as Orlando, and it’s that people continue to blame the gun. They are more concerned with the weapon used rather than who was pulling the trigger. Here’s the news: Guns do not kill people, just like how spoons and forks don’t cause obesity.
If you’re all for banning guns, giving up your second amendment right and blaming the weapon rather than the person, good for you. That is your opinion, that is your preference, so be it. But what needs to be noted, and noted multiple times, is that banning guns from law-abiding citizens will not stop the criminals and the terrorists from using them. They will laugh in our faces. It works the same way the the “drug free zone” sign at my high school did. Guess what? The drug sniffing dogs that came in still found someone to take out to the squad car. Signs and laws do not stop terror.
3. This point, being very specific to Orlando, is one that really pushes my buttons. This seems to be something that people are forgetting. Whether you are gay, straight, black, white, purple, orange, or even green, you are an American. The LGBT community suffered, but they were Americans, and all Americans suffered with them. This was an attack on our freedom of choice, this was an attack on us because we will not persecute them because they might love someone of the same gender.
In countries like Syria and Iran, gays are seen as horrible, awful, evil people. Being gay in those countries equals being dead. You cannot be an advocate for gay rights, and then show sensitivity to those who are against everything, choice, variety, freedom that our country stands for. You cannot show sensitivity to those who want to attack us, to those who want us to be destroyed.
Do not show sensitivity toward ISIS; do not show sensitivity toward radical Islamic terrorists.
4. I’m a believer that love can conquer a lot of things. Love can conquer hate, love can conquer sadness, but love cannot conquer evil. The terrorists laugh when we don’t fight back, they walk all over us when we don’t fight back, and they show no mercy when they feel that they have nothing to be scared of.
Standing in a circle singing Kumbaya isn’t going to stop the terrorists. Making a speech saying that we need to stand in solidarity isn’t going to stop the terrorists. I am a full believer in prayer and I think that it times like this, it is more than OK to pray, but there comes a time when you need to get up off your knees, grit your teeth, stand on their doorstep for a change, and show them that they were wrong when they messed with the Red, White and Blue.
Now, of course, some’s logic is to bring up the “by fighting, by showing that we’re not joking around, that’s just going to make the innocent people in those countries radical” argument.
Well, if Islam is the religion of peace, where is the peace? It’s not in the Middle East, and we sure as hell aren’t seeing any of it.
Let’s say that you argue that this is only a minority of people in the Middle East. Remember, there was only a minority in Germany who hated Jewish people, yet they still wiped out millions of innocent people in the most brutal way.
Chattanooga was ISIS, San Bernardino was ISIS, and Omar Mateen, the man who carried out the largest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11, called 911 to pledge himself to ISIS.
That itself, is a continuous, repeating trend that needs to come to an end. You cannot attack our family, within our borders, and then not get any repercussions. Did you hear me from D.C.? President Obama?
This is our people, our citizens, our well-being, and our safety that need to be taken into consideration. This isn't a joke; it's not a problem that will go away if we ignore it. It's real and it's happening.
Of course, this is a time to stand together. To unify. To fight the hate, the terror, and those against our values. Stand with your community, stand with the LGBT community, but stand against what is wrong.
God bless America.
