Beyond the South End

 

In the Face of Tragedy…

Why?

 

Not too far “Beyond the South End” we’ve had to face yet another tragedy. Still mourning the babies who were killed in Newtown, Connecticut, we have to face yet another senseless tragedy at the Boston Marathon.

A warning about this blog. It may be depressing and not what you want you want to hear or to be thinking about, but I have reluctantly approached the subject of violence in what is most likely a vain attempt to understand how these events come about.

Why? Always we ask why? Maybe we’ll never know or understand what makes one human being decide to kill as many other humans as they can in one fell swoop.

What makes the boy next door, who grew up in this country and became an American citizen; suddenly turn on his fellow Bostonians in such a violent and devastating way?

The Chechen brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are the latest in a long list of terrorists who went down the wrong path and became vicious sociopaths loosed on society.

April is a bad month for terroristic events. Waco, Oklahoma City, Columbine to name a few such devastating events, happened in April. The challenge is to figure out what chain of events turns human beings into one-man wrecking balls who one day are out to kill as many of his fellow human beings as he can.

Maybe we should turn to history for the answer. There are people in this world today who idolize the man and the name of Hitler, a psychopath responsible for over 8,000,000 deaths in WWII. Or if we look at modern society, we need only look to places like Darfur, Rwanda, Uganda, the Congo, and Bosnia for mass killings of its citizens because of an ideal based on hate or because a ruling despot decides to kill just for the heck of it.

Look at these staggering facts:

Darfur, 400,000 killed since 2003

Rwanda, 1994, 800,000 minority Tutsis killed

Uganda, 1980s, civil fighting which abducts children, tortures them and then turns them into soldiers to continue the civil unrest in a vicious circle.

The Congo in 1990, 4 million killed

Bosnia, 1995, the genocide and deportation of Muslims by the Serbians, thousands murdered. Sound familiar?

Or maybe we should look at religious cults as the source…what some people come to believe is a true faith…always led by a psychopath. How many people have been taken in by these so-called religious leaders; and how many have lost their lives as a result?

Look at the so-called “doomsday” cults.

Heaven’s Gate, a doomsday cult in San Diego in 1997, was led by two psychos: Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles. Thirty-nine of its members killed themselves one day because they believed it was the only way to reach an alien space craft which was following the comet Hale-Bopp. Was Earth such a bad place that they thought their only redemption was in outer space?

The Branch Davidians of Waco, Texas, led by psycho David Koresh. Eighty-two of their members were killed in a battle with the ATF, FBI, and the Texas National Guard in 1993 at their compound in Waco. It’s a sore spot of national security and the welfare of our citizens to this day. There is a similar compound now in existence which is currently under scrutiny for child abuse and the like. Will we have yet another Waco?

The People’s Temple, led by psychopath Jim Jones. In 1978 over 900 men, women and children killed themselves in their jungle compound in Guyana. Along with those members, Congressman Leo Ryan, who came to investigate allegations of abuse, was killed as he was trying to board a plane to leave.  He’s the only Congressman to be killed in the line of duty to his country. Jim told members they all had to kill themselves because others would come and they had to make the “ultimate” sacrifice by drinking a Kool-Aid type drink laced with cyanide, sedatives and tranquilizers. It took each member approximately five minutes to die.

That modern-day tragedy reminds us of the ancient society of Jews of Masada who killed themselves rather than become slaves to the Egyptians.

If you look on Wikipedia, they list ten groups who they deem to be of cult potential. I am surely stepping on some toes here, but I beg of you to investigate my research for yourself. They list: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormonism); The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (Jehovah’s Witnesses); The Church of Scientology; The Twelve Tribes; The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (Unification Church); The International Churches of Christ (Boston Movement); The Family; Christian Identity Movement; The Nation of Islam; and United Pentecostal Church.

There is even a warning for one of these groups that you should not believe what you see on that cult’s site because they are fascist, racist, sexist, and narcissistic. The message was fearful enough to me that I didn’t even go to that cult’s site for fear they would attach my name to their email list somehow.

I have come upon people from similar religious groups in my lifetime and their insistence, as they spout their scriptures at me, that they are better than me and that I will surely go to hell if I don’t believe as they do, never sits well with me. Today as I come upon the same thing on the internet, I still recoil.  Although at times I would like to “slap them upside the head” as they say here in the South, I step back and remember my history lessons and walk away. It’s pointless to try to convince them otherwise. I can only hope that their religious zeal doesn’t end up in the death of other people. You have the right to believe what you wish, but I beg of you to give me that same right.

Remember that there are people in the world who face an event like the Boston Marathon killings every day of their lives. Even though we had to witness such a tragedy, we must remember that we are Americans and Americans will always take care of each other.

The story of Why for the Boston tragedy is still being investigated. As I was glued to my T.V. and sitting on the edge of my seat like everyone in the Boston area was, I was reminded of that terrible Thanksgiving weekend in 1963 when we did the same thing during the Kennedy assassination events.

I remain thankful that my great-niece Danielle and her fiancé, Haydn are safe and sound up in Boston.  I look forward to their marriage up in Maine this summer. They gave the Sylvester clan a real scare that day. However, dear friends of Danielle, a young couple, were seriously injured.

I must add one more thought to all of this. I congratulate my dear State of Maine for legalizing same-sex marriages. Why there is even a reason that we have to legalize such a right is beyond me. Gay people are at least lovers, not haters, unlike the Westboro Baptist Church who blames all the ills of the world on homosexuals.

Perhaps we should listen to the words of Martin Richard, our littlest victim, as seen in this picture.

 

 

Out of the mouths of babes. Here he is, missing two of his front teeth, holding a sign we should all heed. He made this poster in class after a lesson about Trayvon Martin. Right there we should be concerned that we now have to teach kids how not to hate in our classrooms.

If you remember, Trayvon Martin was the black kid who was visiting a closed community and who was picked out by a “neighborhood watch coordinator” in a gated community as a possible threat to the community. The “watch coordinator,” George Zimmerman ended up killing the young man. Zimmerman was even let go at first, claiming self-defense, but is now under indictment for 2^nd degree murder in the case.

The family of Trayvon Martin recently sent a letter to the family of Martin Richard:

Statement to the Family of Martin Richard from the Parents of Trayvon Martin

Our hearts are broken over the tragedy in Boston yesterday. Our family sends our sincerest condolences to all of those who have been affected by this terrible situation. We especially would like to send a message to the family of eight-year-old Martin Richard. We have come to understand that the peace sign that Martin is holding in a photo being circulated throughout the media was created in response to a lesson by his teacher about the death of our son. From our family to yours, we are praying for you, thinking about you and will remember your son for the rest of our lives.

--Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, parents of Trayvon Martin

I would say the same about the other victims of the Boston tragedy: Krystle Campbell, 29; Boston University student, Lu Lingzi and the last person killed, the M.I.T. guard, Sean Collier. Rest in Peace. To the others who now face long recuperation and rehabilitation periods, God Bless you.

Thanks for listening.