This past week the world was witness to two horrible tragedies: the first was in Bulgaria, where a busload of Israeli tourists were killed by what appears to be a suicide bomber while on a bus. Then a few days later, a man in Aurora, Colorado went into a viewing of The Dark Knight Rises and proceeded to shoot up the audience. These tragedies touched me profoundly for a number of reasons, and this morning when I went to synagogue to pray this morning, I made sure to say a Mourner’s Kaddish for the victims of these horrible tragedies.
Already though, we are hearing, on TV and the Internet, on the radio and in the newspapers, on the street and in our homes, what these tragedies may signify and what should be done. I would like to say a few things about these discussions:
The first is to the suicide bomber in Bulgaria, who is believed to be linked to terrorist organization Hezbollah. Hezbollah claims they are following the will of Allah by attempting to wipe Israel and its citizens off the map. If you ask me, the members of Hezbollah are not Muslims in any sense of the religion; I’ve met, discussed, and formed friendships with quite a few Muslims, both secular and religious, and they have been nothing but kind, courteous, and when Israel is brought up, willing to talk compromise in the hopes of a true peace. These people who claim they are killing in Allah’s name are flouting the commandment to preserve life, a basic tenet not just in Islam but in many religions worldwide.
The point is, if you’re killing in the name of your god, no matter what religion you are from, you are not acting as a member of that religion. You are acting as a murderer. And so before we go blaming any religion for the actions of an individual claiming to be acting in that religion’s name, let us remember this person does not represent an entire faith; they only represent themselves (and their radical organization, if they belong to one).
On the flip side, we cannot blame a lack of religion for a crime just as we cannot blame a religion for a crime: today a congressman from Oklahoma went on TV and said that “the attack on Judeo-Christian principles” was the reason the Aurora tragedy happened, even though Jason Holmes, the suspected gunman, has not given a motive as far as law enforcement is aware. If you ask me, a lack of religion or the absence of religion at school or a workplace or a lack of emphasis of religious values in national policy does not necessarily mean someone will become a murderer. No, what it means that people can make choices based on religious values or on their own values or the values of others. What those choices are though, are that person’s and that person’s alone, and we cannot say that whether or not they had religious values in their lives was the reason behind their murders just as we can’t say that a religion is the reason certain people commit murder. It just doesn’t make any sense at all, at least not to me.
And one more thing: I heard someone blaming the attack in Aurora on violent movies and considering stricter regulations on these movies. Not too long after, the commissioner of the NYPD came out saying that the Aurora shooter may have been acting under the impression that he was the Joker. This will most likely reignite the debate about whether media content should be regulated or banned based on factors like violence or sex. As a writer of stories that more often than not have violent elements, I have to say that’d be counterproductive: if someone commits a crime and it bears a similarity to a movie or a video game and that person may be connected to the movie or video game, I tend to think that person was already mentally unbalanced and that they just incorporated that movie or game into their mental instability somehow. And you can’t point the finger at one single movie, game, book, show, or song and say they caused a crime: a person’s mental make-up is the product of a number of biological, environmental, cultural, and sociological factors over a period of time, so pinpointing the one thing that causes mental instability can be tricky, if not impossible. And besides, plenty of people who are certified crazy blame their actions on the Bible, God, the Devil, or a million different religious-related things. We don’t consider banning the religion, do we? No! That’d be ridiculous.
I don’t deny that media can affect our perceptions of reality and society, I just don’t think that blaming it for a person’s actions is the wisest decision, let alone banning or further regulating it.
So what do I say caused these tragedies? Individuals who couldn’t understand the beauty of life and whose reasoning is probably as horrible as the tragedies they committed. That is my opinion, and I also belive there are ways you can stop these sorts of things from every happening again:
The first is to make sure that children understand how important life is. Children tend to see abstract concepts as concrete, and I think teaching children how wonderful life is and how we should cherish it can cause those who may see killing bugs is fun or violence is cool to reconsider their positions, and keep these lessons throughout their lives.
At the same time, I don’t think you should expose children to violent games or movies, at least not until a certain age, and certainly not until they’ve learned that what they see on the screen is not real and that what goes on in the game or film doesn’t always reflect reality. In fact, it usually doesn’t.
And finally, I think where adults and grown teenagers are concerned, access to guns and other deadly weapons should be more strictly regulated, as when people have easy access to guns, things such as Columbine, Virginia Tech, or Aroura are made that much easier to pull off. Not only that, but it may be a good idea to institute psych exams for children and teens who are repeat breakers of the law, as many psychopaths commit crimes at young ages and that’s the perfect time to get them off the streets.
You may feel free to disagree with me, I’m fine with that. I just thought I’d voice my opinion on the subject since others certainly will. And I’d like to say one more thing: to the victims of these tragedies that could have been avoided, you were taken too soon, and we will never forget you. To the families and friends of the victims, my heart and my condolences go out to you, and I wish you all healing and compassion in this time of grief. To the people who celebrate the murderers for their deeds, I find you detestable and pity you. And to those tasked with fighting and stopping these monsters from committing these crimes, I pray for wisdom and good luck to be given you in your mission to preserve the peace in our world.
That is all.
Rami Ungar The Writer 