An American Tragedy

This morning I woke to the news that a gunmen went on a shooting spree at an Aurora, Colorado movie theater at 12:30 am this morning, where people were waiting in line to see the new Batman movie,  “The Dark Knight Rises.”  Twelve were killed and many more injured.  Apparently, the individual who did the shooting was a young man, only 24 years old.  What leads someone to do something so horrific to their fellow human beings?  What kind of hate in your heart do you have for you life and humanity that you could mercilessly open fire on a group of people, who in the difficult economic times we live in, simply wanted to spend their hard earned money to see a movie?   Perhaps for many of those people, this was their one splurge on entertainment for this pay period.  Perhaps others were teenagers or young adults, close to the age of my own children, with their whole lives ahead of them.   Bright futures lost; taken by someone with bigger issues than any of them could ever imagine.  It scares me.  It makes me want to wake my 18-year-old sons and my 11-year-old daughter and hug them, thankful that they are safe in their own beds this morning. 

Part of me is very angry and wants to say that the young man, the shooter, has a black soul and will spend an eternity in hell, not only on Earth, but also in the afterlife.   Yet another part of me wonders what happened to him in his life to lead him up to this act?  Were his parents abusive, or were they simply parents doing their best (which is all we can really do) to raise their children to become productive members of society?  Were his parents just like me?  Was he bullied in school?  Made fun of and finally had enough and snapped?  Or was he just mentally ill, unable to curb his urge for violence and destruction?  The Christian part of me wants him to find the help he needs and rehabilitate.   But the part of me that fears such people with a penchant for violence does not believe he can truly overcome what he has done, and hopes that he spends his life in prison, far away from anyone he could ever hurt again.  I struggle with this.  I struggle with trying to relate to how his family must feel.  As my own sons move into their futures in the “real world”, they often thank my husband and I for how we have raised them, and fought for them, and stood up for them.  They tell me they wouldn’t be who they are without us and they are proud of who they are.  I can’t imagine either of them ever thinking life was so bad, that going on a shooting spree was their only option.   If this did stem from bullying or something someone said or did to make that young man feel such anger toward the world, it is a sad statement about society.  My own three children have had moments in their lives when other kids in school have picked on them, as all kids do.   I always tell them, there are people in life who will make you feel that way, but as you grow older the one thing you will always have is family (and if you are lucky a few good friends who are your “chosen family”).   That family will love you and protect you and encourage you and have your back, no matter what.  And that’s really what’s important.