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Monday, March 18, 2024
March 18, 2024

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Letter: React and respond with caution

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Since Thursday, there have been many heartfelt, eloquent responses to the Roseburg, Ore., shooting and other senseless events, which can be seen as random haphazard tragedies or as symptoms of a violent, fearful culture.

One writer says we are no longer tribal, that we don’t need to brandish guns anymore as the tough face of our fear. Yet a lot of people will now go even more tribal, adding to their arsenal because they fear that every shooting increases the chance that guns will somehow be taken away. With more or less success throughout history, we have wrapped our violent nature with laws and civilization. It’s hard to say whether that violent nature is coming back out from under the blanket or if it ever really went under, but it’s been in the news way too frequently.

It’s not only about gun laws, it’s about a culture that supports the potential for violence as an inherent right, and then hails the suppression of violence with violence as heroism, kind of like drinking to get over a hangover. I’m not saying the shooter(s) shouldn’t be stopped. They should be, and quickly. Their tragic choices require decisive action. But we have also built a fertile ground that allowed them to grow into shooters in the first place.

Let’s deal with our schizophrenia, then see what still needs defending.

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