{"id":2499,"date":"2018-04-25T02:01:59","date_gmt":"2018-04-25T02:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/?p=2499"},"modified":"2025-04-10T14:08:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T14:08:18","slug":"still-more-mass-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/still-more-mass-murder\/","title":{"rendered":"Still More Mass Murder"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

Fourteen high-profile murders are in the news. Four died at a Waffle House in Nashville, 10 were killed on Yonge Street in Toronto. The accused killers have been caught. I put links to BBC News and Wikipedia pages about the murders at the end of this post.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

I’ll mostly be saying why I think murder is a bad idea, and how I see being human and making sense \u2014 or not, in some cases.<\/p>\n

<\/a>I’m not personally involved in the incidents. Living in central Minnesota, far from either city, staying calm about what happened is comparatively easy.<\/p>\n

“Calm” isn’t “apathetic.” I think there’s wisdom in this advice:<\/p>\n

“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”
\n(Romans 12:15<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These deaths left a great many folks missing family and friends. I trust and hope they will get the support and well-expressed sympathy they need.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Human Life Matters<\/h4>\n

\"Philippe<\/a>Murder is a bad idea. Folks with a remarkable number of different views agree on that, although what’s seen as “murder” has varied quite a bit over the millennia.<\/p>\n

I’m a Christian and a Catholic, so I see murder as deliberately killing an innocent human being. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2261<\/a>)<\/p>\n

It’s wrong because human life is sacred, a gift from God. Each of our lives matters. Age or health isn’t a factor. Being human is. (Catechism, 2258<\/a>, 2268<\/a>–2283<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Feeling that someone who commits murder is still human isn’t easy, at least for me. But easy or not: I’m obliged to remember that we’re all human; no matter who we are, where we live, or how we act. (Catechism, 360<\/a>, 1700<\/a>–1706<\/a>, 1932<\/a>–1933<\/a>, 1935<\/a>)<\/p>\n

<\/a>Responses, Assumptions<\/h4>\n

<\/a>News from Toronto, bad as it is, could be worse. Despite the incident being yet another van crime, I’ve yet to hear someone demanding tighter van laws.<\/p>\n

One politico even said being calm was a good idea. I think that, and how folks responded to similar crimes in England last year, is good news.<\/p>\n

Maybe Western civilization hasn’t gone completely bonkers. (June 25, 2017<\/a>; June 4, 2017<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The Nashville and Toronto mass murders almost certainly aren’t connected. That’d make an entertaining \u2014 sort of \u2014 conspiracy theory, and that’s another topic. (August 11, 2017<\/a>; July 21, 2017<\/a>)<\/p>\n

But the murders have some common elements. Both were committed in North America, by someone in the male 18-34 demographic. Both suspects probably have mostly-European ancestry.<\/p>\n

Canadian and American culture and politics being what they are, I don’t think we’ll be discussing the wisdom of locking up all 18-24 Euro-American and Euro-Canadian men. Or at least requiring that these walking time bombs carry their identification papers.<\/p>\n

I don’t think that’d make sense, but I’ve been one of “them.” By some wacky standards, that might make me a fellow-conspirator. I don’t miss the bygone days when political correctness was in bloom. Or McCarthyism.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Ideas<\/h4>\n

<\/a>Folks had, and have acted on, crazy ideas long before the 20th century.<\/p>\n

I see the Thirty Years War as northern European bosses wanting a piece of southern Europe’s wealth. Mostly.<\/p>\n

Maybe some really believed their religion-themed propaganda. That, and embarrassments like the Popish Plot, arguably inspired the Enlightenment.<\/p>\n

Attitudes like Sapere aude\/dare to know seem reasonable. The Cult of Reason’s toga parties, not so much. (March 9, 2018<\/a>; August 20, 2017<\/a>; June 25, 2017<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Imagining a perfect world, filled with the light of reason and warmth of love, can be nice. As an occasional intellectual treat.<\/p>\n

As mental junk food goes, it may be better than snarfing down six-packs of doom, gloom, Malthus and Yeats. Or adopting fashionable melancholy, which sounds more sophisticated. (August 11, 2017<\/a>; October 22, 2017<\/a>)<\/p>\n

<\/a>Blame<\/h4>\n

<\/a>The criminologist in Monty Python’s ‘Piranha Brothers’ skit was, happily, fictional. So was his madcap parody of sadly-real attitudes. (March 19, 2018<\/a>)<\/p>\n

We didn’t stay in the 1960s. Most of us didn’t, anyway. Trendy slogans like “victim of society” became dated, occasionally resurfacing as corny comedy relief.<\/p>\n

Some of today’s experts aren’t any more reasonable than their wacky predecessors. But quite a few are promoting different ideas. I get the impression that decriminalization is out and the blame game is in.<\/p>\n

That’s an extreme oversimplification. And nothing new. McCarthyism had communists, political correctness had oppressors. What’s changed is who’s being blamed. Or what. (November 19, 2017<\/a>; November 15, 2017<\/a>)<\/p>\n

It’s early days, but I suspect we’ll learn that the person accused of killing folks in Toronto had psychiatric issues. The Nashville suspect almost certainly did.<\/p>\n

I think that should be considered during their trials. But I don’t think crazy people are a threat to us all. I’ll admit to a bias. I deal with an autism spectrum disorder, PTSD and depression. (March 19, 2017<\/a>)<\/p>\n

<\/a>Acting Like Love Matters<\/h4>\n

<\/a>I don’t indulge in daydreaming about a utopian world where we’ve solved all our problems. Not much, anyway, now that I’ve passed my early teens.<\/p>\n

I certainly don’t think today’s world is ideal, or that we ever had a Golden Age.<\/p>\n

I was dissatisfied with the status quo in the ’60s, and still am. I thought we could do better then, and still do. Changing the world, or even my country, is beyond my power. I don’t mind a bit. Having that much responsibility would be scary.<\/p>\n

We’ll probably need to change laws, sooner or later. That’s an ongoing process, since how we live keeps changing.<\/p>\n

We may need to change how we deal with folks who won’t or can’t follow rules. That’s a can of worms I’ll re-open another day.<\/p>\n

The sort of murder that’s in the news is already illegal in both Canada and the United States. Making it ‘more illegal’ might seem appealing, but it may not be a good idea.<\/p>\n

I think both murders happened because two people decided that killing others made sense. Or felt good. Some folks might feel that way no matter how the rest of us act.<\/p>\n

But we can, I think, start acting as if we believe loving our neighbors is a good idea. Doing so might encourage more thought, less anger; and maybe more mutual respect.<\/p>\n

I’ve talked about that sort of thing before:<\/p>\n