I was out of town when the Virginia Tech shootings happened, but I think I should comment on it. A good liberal like me should have a post on why gun control is the logical outgrowth of this, but this is self-evident except to the caller to NPR earlier today who believed it wouldn't have happened if everyone was armed.
My point is one of confusion and a lack of understanding. I believe myself to be a good person and understand morals (although I don't belong to a religion that prescribes a set of morals). I don't understand how someone could put a gun to their head and pull the trigger and the confusion deepens. How anyone could decide to go out and kill others, whether in Iraq, Virginia, Belfast, Sarejavo, Rwanda, Congo, etc., etc. The urge to kill is something that is unnatural to humans unless their live is threatened or some mental disease is involved. There are some people who are easily swayed to a tactic and will 'drink the kool-aid,' to use the anniversary of the Jonestown people.
I think peace is our natural state and other events (war, occupation, stirring of ethnic hatred, actions to prevent others' killing) are the main reasons people kill. It seems so unnecessary and it should allow us to reflect on the effect our decisions make in our lives. Specifically, we need to realize that every action we take should be (it won't be) based on rational ideas. No one can control the heat-of-the-moment actions, but living life based on reason (whether guided by religious principles or not) is important. We are not just multi-cellular beings being driven by the market, materialism, religion, etc. We act because we choose to act and any denial of this fact denies our intelligence (whether we believe it came from evolution or as a gift from a deity).
WE HAVE CONTROL OVER OUR OWN ACTIONS.
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