The Very Worst and Most Evil Response to Tucson

By now I am sure that most of you have heard of the terrible events that unfolded in Arizona on Saturday. There have been many insightful and thoughtful responses to this event (along side some observations that have rushed to demonization and judgment, but this ‘us vs them’ attempt to assign blame is not a conversation I feel like having today); serious pleas for us to recognize that words have consequences and to start using them in a more responsible fashion.  Human beings are meaning-makers and this “seeking understanding” is not inherently a bad process, we should seek to understand socializing forces, positive and negative, and if a pattern can be identified that somehow negates another similar event, then good.

Along with the many calls from many persons for us to be better humans and respect each other more seriously with the words we choose to use are the stories of persons who acted heroically in the midst of chaos, violence, and death. It is encouraging when one is brought very close to evil, hatred, and senseless violence to hear the stories of selflessness and heroism that rise from the ashes of mourning and sadness: those who put their own lives at risk to stop the gunman, or did all they could to possibly save the lives of those who were injured. On the same day, at the same event, you can have the very worst and the very best of humanity intermingling.

A terrible tragedy, an animalistic non-human output of hatred, lacking the basic human identifier of empathy, and displaying the very worst of conflict resolution skills; but answered by other persons in deed and word that highlight the better aspects of the human condition.

And then there is just pure evil. Hatred. Bigotry. Ignorance. This is predictable, but perhaps that is what makes it even more sad and maddening.

If someone ever asks you, “Can a human being stop being human and become merely an animal?” Show them this. The answer is yes.

That makes me sick to my stomach, and I hope that I don’t have to waste my time deconstructing it to show you how evil, vile, sick and depraved it is.