The Killers Among Us

My blog today deals with the unpleasant fact that, seemingly, a month does not go by without our having to deal with another horrific slaughter of human beings by one of our own.  To repeat,  by one of our own--not Terrorists! 

I have titled this blog, The Killers Among Us, because that is what they are!  They are someone's son; someone's brother, someone's uncle, someone's father, someone's employee!  If we turn to the killers of an individual, or two, the story becomes even grimmer still; rarely a day goes by that we are not presented with reports of those as well.

The most recent slaughter on my mind, and the minds of many others, I am sure, is that of the nice-looking young Caucasian man, who, this week, went to a religious-study group of black people, in a church, jointed them for an hour or so, and then, apparently, proceeded to pull out a gun and commence to shoot.  The reports I have read do not give figures for the number of injured, but, he succeeded in killling nine of them--six women and three men!

Also, at this time, in the current news, the trial is going on of the young man who went to a movie theater, many months ago now, slaughtered many people, and injuring a number of others!  As in our current example, also seemingly, for no apparent reason other than, the individual killer's (debated) mental illness.

These are only two of the many recent examples of, non-random, deliberate, intentional taking of multiple lives in this country by a male individual!

How do we understand all this killing?  First, we have to look squarely in the face of the fact that the citizens of this country love their guns!  A recent article in the newspaper dealing with the possible passing of a law making the most-popular semi-automatic weapon, designed for war, illegal for individuals to own.  The bottom line of this story was that, it was the consensus of individual men and women that they, those guns, are way far-out fun to shoot!

This attachment to guns, here in America, can arguably be traced back to our frontier heritage and the violence involved in taking this land from the Indians, and killing off as many of them as could be managed, along with their buffalo.

It is my considered opinion, however, that the awful amount of killing that goes on among our modern populous can, rather, more credibly be traced to the fact that during  much of our recent history, all able-bodied men were required, (currently, encouraged) to register for military service. Once inducted most are systematically taught ways to kill other human beings.  (When these men, and now also women, return from the latest killing fields, we are admonished that we are to treat them as heroes, and that we should thank them for their service.)

Added to these foreign war fronts, we can add to that the increasingly violent entertainment, and adrenalin producing activities so many choose to engage in and consume, as well as the, more private, playing of violent video games!

Just how intimate our relationship to the Killers Among Us is, can be demonstrated through a cursory reading of any of the news reports.  A major part of the stories are usually interviews of the Killer's relatives, friends, employers, neighbors and assorted other acquaintances.

With that, I leave this sad topic.

Shirley Gallup
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Some time ago, I wrote a poem about this subject indicating just how complex this concept--killing-- is, which I quote below:

                        EXCEPT

THOU SHALT NOT KILL----
except,
when ordered to by a powerful superior,
(if not, you have committed a greater offense)
THOU SHALT NOT KILL----
except,
when that which is yours is being taken,
(you must uphold your divine right of property)
THOU SHALT NOT KILL----
except,
when you have sworn to uphold the law,
(to not uphold the laws of the powerful leads to chaos)
THOU SHALT NOT KILL----
except,
when a husband, and your wife is unfaithful,
(a wife is the sacred property of her husband)
THOU SHALT NOT KILL----
except,
when that killed is not labeled Human,
(for ours is the right of domination over the earth)
THOU SHALT NOT KILL----
when an individual has killed another in passion,
(for this is murder and a sin against God)

(Copyright: Shirley Gallup, MA-AT)