Be A Man About It

Yesterday a 19 year old man ran through a shopping mall in Nebraska and gunned down 8 people before turning the gun on himself. He apparently left a suicide note in which he said that he was “going out in style.” Now I’m sure that I don’t have to explain how disturbed I am at hearing such a horrific story, but as I grow older such events seem evermore prevalent.

I’d argue that the young man failed in his attempt to die with style points. So I have a suggestion for anyone who ever gets the notion that they’d like to follow in his footsteps: instead of turning the gun on yourself after committing your dirty deed of destruction, be a man about it and face the consequences of your actions in someone else’s court instead of your own. By committing suicide you are merely going out as the biggest loser and a coward, not with style points.

Such acts of "terrorism," if you will, really bother me because they are completely and totally senseless. To take anyone’s life is disgusting, but to go out and indiscriminately murder innocent people because you can’t deal with your own personal demons makes me even more upset.

Who gave you that right?!!!

But if you’re going to take it upon yourself to play God and kill who you will whenever you will, how bout actually stepping up to the plate and facing the consequences. I mean these people, often young men, walk around and mow down people with guns and assault rifles like they’re big and tough, but they don’t even have the balls to go down in a good old fashioned gun fight with law enforcement.

If you’re so big and bad, why don’t you match wits with people who can actually fend for themselves, people who know where you are and when you’re coming, people who know as much about a gun as you do? How 'bout really demonstrating your manhood by fighting fair, because shooting unaware, innocent bystanders isn’t going out in style by any means, it only demonstrates cowardice.

Better yet, how about trying the criminal justice on for size? Yes...go to court, be convicted, and then share a prison cell with some of your diabolical equals. Oh, that’s right, you’ve probably heard what happens to some cowards when they get to prison; maybe that’s why you forego that option and go right for suicide.

Ok, I think I’ve got it now…the ultimate solution: Instead of trying to add inches to what’s in between your legs by picking up a big bad gun (pardon the metaphor), how about exorcizing your demons before taking the valuable lives of others. Think about what those lives mean to the potential victims as well as the people that love them. You obviously don’t value your life, but the least you can do is consider the value of the lives of others.

I guess what I’m getting at here is personal responsibility and accountability. And clearly these people who commit murder-suicides are trying to dodge both. So all I’m asking of anyone who one day "loses it" and thinks the best thing to do is to “go out in style,” you’d gain infinitely more “style” points if you’d just handle your problems in house, and take no lives, including your own.

-Maelstrom

Some Things Aren’t Worth Protesting

Ever wonder why 50 Cent had beef with Ja Rule, and then The Game? What about Jay-Z and Nas? Better yet, why do you think Michael Moore makes his films so edgy and names them things like “Fahrenheit 911?” How about all those starlets who just happen to always end up in front of the camera during a meltdown? Well let me help you out, its either because of money or because of attention, and often the latter leads to the former.

So I don’t understand why it is that some people, groups and institutions even give certain issues that they disagree with a moment of their media attention. You think these groups would know better since the ire that followed the release of “The Passion of the Christ,” or at least by the release of “The Da Vinci Code.”

If I can make a mildly disparaging comment before continuing: In my high and mighty opinion most Americans are either largely socially unaware, or are at least largely apathetic. So by having a group speak out against an issue, that same “ignorant” populace only pays more attention to the issue when they wouldn’t normally pay attention to or understand it in the first place. In short, such boisterous objection only has the opposite effect from the desired effect a group wishes.

More specifically, there is a movie that is purported to be anti-God coming to a theatre near you. Of course religious groups are coming out of the woodwork to protest the movie. That is to say that these groups are doing exactly what the movie promoters want; promoting the movie for free. So effectively the religious groups are helping the movie get all the publicity it needs to spread the message that they are so afraid of getting out.

So what good does it do to protest in this fashion? And I should point out that I’m not one who is against protest. I have even participated in a few in my short years on Earth. But certainly I’ve learned that some things are best just left alone and some things are better left unsaid; they do not become significant until someone makes them significant. And I believe that is often the case with the attention-craving Hollywood stars, the platinum-album-seeking rappers, and certainly is the case with this movie “The Golden Compass.”

Approaching this topic from a different angle, as I understand it one of the major arguments in the movie made against God and organized religion is that it is controlling and does not allow one to think independently. Well, by protesting the movie without ever watching it, doesn’t that demonstrate exactly what the movie is saying? How ironic that these religious groups and leaders are becoming the embodiment of everything negative that the movie is saying about them.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, if there is indeed a God, that entity needs no human substantiation. And if God is who many believe Him to be, wouldn’t he want each individual to watch such a movie and make up their own mind about the implications of it?

You know what I think? I think anyone who likes the previews and finds them interesting should go out and watch the movie. I mean, how else are you going to know what you’re protesting against? You may find out that you actually agree with the movie, or that you just enjoy it whether or not you agree with its contents.

So everyone, hear me loud and clear when I say this: When in disagreement choose your battles wisely because seriously, some things just aren’t worth protesting.

-Maelstrom