Last week on Tuesday, December 2nd, two gunmen opened fire at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, killing 17 and injuring 21.
This shooting marks the latest of several of deadly shootings that have erupted in a response of chaos and confusion about the state of our society. The shooting follows other mass shootings, such as one at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado last week, at Emmanuel African Episcopal Church in South Carolina, and at Umpqua Community College in Oregon.
The latest news that the San Bernardino shooters were self described supporters of the terror group ISIS adds only more complexity and severity to the already tragic situation. Such news holds truth to a growing reality and violence by ISIS is occurring more readily in western nations. A prime example of this, are the attacks in Paris last month, which painted a picture of what the world can expect from ISIS in the near future. Not simply with regard to terrorism and ISIS but domestic shootings a whole has taught us one thing, what we are doing is not working and we need answers depart.
As per the usual political normative in the United States, gun laws are always called into questions after mass shootings. As of late, President Obama has responded with a rhetoric that would embrace stricter gun safety laws to, as he sees it will prevent future gun violence.
Countering this, the NRA and Republican lawmakers come to the defense of the 2nd amendment, which they cite as the reason why guns should remain uncontrolled and readily available to American citizens. There is strong and robust reasoning to believe that background checks and banning of certain military-style assault weapons can contribute to more safe communities. However, the societal problem that there are a growing of number of unstable and violently charged people that want nothing more than a destruction of precious life, cannot be solved simply by gun control legislation.
As news broke of the shooting being particularly deadly on Tuesday night, tweets and press releases from politicians and figures came pouring out with somber sentiments: “our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families” phrase being used frequently."
Such messages caused the New York Daily news to print “God Isn't Fixing This” on their cover page, and write a cover story scolding politicians who offer prayers in lieu of solutions. The story garnered a public discussion over the effect of prayer, causing many to call for the end of prayers in tragic circumstances known to some as “prayer shaming.” Regardless of affiliation, shaming prayers and sentiments that express empathy and compassion during tough times is counterproductive. These such politicians who are adamant about prayerful sentiments should however, dedicate that same solemn attitude into actions for the problems we face that resulted in said shootings.
One thing we need to do as society is to put a very strong emphasis on the sanctity of human life and the condoning of deadly violence in our society. In our culture, violence, whether in the media, or in our history, prevails over love and compassion to our fellow human beings. A universal belief in our society should be that the preservation and proper treatment of human life should come before all things.
Additionally, it can be counterproductive in these scenarios to habitually propose solutions that favor violence against the innocent with violence against the guilty. Although the guilty have committed vile crimes against humanity, the cycle only perpetuates itself when we are automatically violent toward them as well. With the growing terrorism of the the militant group ISIS, responses will be required from world leaders, with the focus on disseminating and resorting their revolting regime. Although war and attacks may very well be the answer to doing so, we should not rush into those ideas without deeply examining the practicality and humanity of it.
Second, we need to care for one another more. No doubt, many of these shooters who have committed such terrible shooting this year and in the past few years have had significant mental issues. More concerning, signs of such issues were ignored at times by family members and medical professionals. Medications were not being taken, signs of the desires to omit murder were present, with no action taken to notify authorities. This distressed a need to care for our fellow Americans who suffer from some the most concentring and optionally mental disorders. As a community and nation we need stricter laws that would support this siduals in communities such as groups that ensure they are being taken care of and monitored. Through compassion and with serious regard to life, and impending such ideas into actions, we can make a society that does not accept such unspeakable violence.
