COMPASSION OVER BULLETS

Since I live in Virginia Beach the mass shooting of the twelve municipal workers in Virginia Beach by a co-worker brought the phenomenon closer to home than it has ever been before. It is one thing when an unknown assailant kills absolute strangers and another when a person who works with the victims, maybe knowing them by name pulls the trigger. We wonder what could possibly lead a person to commit such a heinous act. One thing for certain, that person lacks compassion. This is a trait missing in any killer. They lack the ability to put themselves in the victim's place. The scripture admonishes us to "Do unto others as we would have them do unto us." That would mean if we did not want to be killed we wouldn't kill. Too often these perpetrators are on a suicide mission. They neither expect or want to survive. They are not loving themselves so they do not project love on others.

Some killers are motivated by a cause. They can get wrapped up in a race or Religion-based hatred that in their minds is justification for acts of violence. Forty-nine human beings were slain in the Christchurch, New Zealand mosque attacks simply because they were Muslims. Likewise, members of the Tree of Life Synagogue were murdered for being Jewish. Nine black Christians were slain during a service at their church by a racist youth and the Pulse nightclub, a gay hot spot in Orlando, Florida was the scene of 49 deaths and 53 woundings because the shooter did not like gay people. These suspects had strong emotions driving them to commit murder. Hate is the strongest. While there really is no justification for mass murder or even a single killing we can understand a person driven to a form of insanity by their views. The Virginia Beach suspect remains a mystery because it can not be determined that he had any of these leanings. It seems he just decided to shoot his co-workers without provocation. This is especially scary because one does not know how to guard against such attacks.

We need more compassion in the world. That means that each of us must learn to reach out to hurting people, to lend them an ear or a shoulder. It could save a life. The NRA champions the ownership of guns but we need to promote compassion over bullets. Like electricity, it can spread from one person to another and make a difference in our world. If only our president would use his pulpit in this way it could really change things. Compassion and focused love can heal an angry soul.