Things We Will Never Understand

*Since I’m so nice, I’ll warn you now…this post is longer than I meant for it to be. There’s a reason why I don’t like to get serious too often.*

This world is a messed up place. (As if you didn’t already know that.) There are too many people who think that lives are dispensable. People who are willing to kill over the most insignificant things, just for the thrill of it, or just to be “famous.” I don’t know what has to go on in a person’s head to make them think it’s okay to kill someone. I was heartbroken when I heard of the recent massacre in a Connecticut elementary school. How can a man ever justify killing innocent children? No child should have to know that horror, and no parent should have to know that kind of loss. I can’t imagine the pain they are feeling, to know they will never again be able to hold their child, play with them, or see them smile. It makes me sick every time I think of what happened. Sadly, gun laws are not the issue, people are. As long as guns exist, people will find a way to get them, legally or otherwise. What I don’t understand is why it’s so easy to legally acquire a weapon that can fire off a hundred rounds in 30 seconds. Why would ANYONE need a weapon like that for protection? If someone is buying that, they clearly have bad intentions. Can someone tell me why we need so much paperwork to get a license/passport, yet it’s fairly simple to buy a gun? Does that not seem wrong to you?

The majority of criminals/murderers have had difficult pasts; their parents didn’t love them, their schoolmates bullied them. While that doesn’t excuse using violence, we need to realize that our actions can greatly affect others. There are so many people who don’t deserve to be parents. People who don’t realize that ignoring or abusing a child is going to have a huge effect on how they turn out. What were they thinking when they were calling their child ugly or fat and telling them they’d never amount to anything? How can anyone say that to a child? How can anyone talk that way to their own flesh and blood? There are people who teach their kids to discriminate against others who are different. How can you teach your kids to hate others just because you do? And all those people and schools turning a blind eye to bullying, shame on you. How do you think those victims feel? Why do you think so many children turn to suicide? Because no one will listen and sadly, they think suicide is their only way out. It’s sickening how cruel people can be, and so terribly sad what people are capable of doing out of anger.

I will never understand the allure of including any kind of violence in fiction. We have more than enough violence in the real world. So what is the point of having more violence in books, TV shows, movies and video games? How is violence entertaining? Our kids shouldn’t be shooting people in video games and thinking that it’s “cool.” There’s so much violence everywhere that it’s like we’ve been desensitized. Then there are reality shows like Snapped, Fatal Honeymoons, Too Young To Kill, etc, all of which serve to remind us yet again what people are capable of. Do we really need to give those murderers MORE air time? Do we really want to inspire potential copycats? ENOUGH ALREADY. We need to stop acting like violence is okay and just another part of life. It doesn’t have to be. We don’t need to be so filled with hatred. We don’t need to teach our children that this is okay. I truly believe it all starts at home and that we all need to do our part. We need to learn how to solve our problems without violence. Unfortunately, our country isn’t setting the best example. What are we teaching our citizens when countries declare war on each other as a way to solve their problems, or as a way to force others to do things their way? I know this world isn’t going to magically become a wonderful place. But if we take a look at ourselves and the way we’re living our lives and treating others, we can make a huge difference one day. We just have to want this change.

I want to live in a world where we don’t hear about innocent people being shot to death in a school or a theater. Where we don’t have to hear about a teenager shooting his whole family because they were mean to him, or shooting himself because he’s tired of being bullied. I want to live in a world where I can someday raise a child and not fear for their safety and happiness every day. A world where we can all be happy with what we have, and enjoy our family and friends, because life is short. A world where people may not always see eye to eye, but they agree to disagree rather than to fight each other. I want to live in a world where the only death I have to worry about is a natural one, when God says it’s time for me to go. The way it’s supposed to be. Mostly, I just want to live.

~Lily~

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” ― Mae West

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” ― Albert Einstein