Gun Talk - News, Laws, etc.

[theimage13]

I'll never give them the excuse of being mentally unstable or insane. As far as I'm concerned these people are whiney self centered thick as shit scumbags and deserve to be tortured.

(flame suit on)

Wow. Now, I really haven't read much on this story yet (just had my own family loss, so really not in the mood), so I'm not going to say whether I believe this guy had extreme issues versus just being a bad egg. But I can't let your statement go...are you just completely and utterly oblivious to how the human body works? When I read your above quote, I see "Alzheimer's is bullshit, those old fucks are just forgetful". Like it or not, people can actually be truly incapable of what you or I would call rational thought. Sometimes the result relatively harmless, but sometimes, it can lead to violence towards others. Your attitude towards mental disorders is painfully ignorant, and it's views like this that make it so difficult to try to actually help people.

[Leviathant]

(flame suit on)

Wow. Now, I really haven't read much on this story yet (just had my own family loss, so really not in the mood), so I'm not going to say whether I believe this guy had extreme issues versus just being a bad egg. But I can't let your statement go...are you just completely and utterly oblivious to how the human body works? When I read your above quote, I see "Alzheimer's is bullshit, those old fucks are just forgetful". Like it or not, people can actually be truly incapable of what you or I would call rational thought. Sometimes the result relatively harmless, but sometimes, it can lead to violence towards others. Your attitude towards mental disorders is painfully ignorant, and it's views like this that make it so difficult to try to actually help people.

Rather than rehash, I'm going to link to my wife's blog post about the topic of mental illness in the wake of the Aurora shooting.

I try not to be utterly defined by the fact that I grew up with a mentally ill parent, but there's no doubt that it has done its part in shaping who I am and how I react to certain tragedies. A few years ago, I came to the decision that I was sick and tired of feeling uncomfortable talking about it, and I started opening my eyes to the way the stigma and silence and ignorance surrounding mental illness make the whole situation significantly worse for my mother, my family, and everyone else in the world who is touched by mental illness in some way. I want to do what little I can to change that, so I try and talk about mental illness frankly and openly and often publicly. It might be a futile endeavor, because the more you realize how easy it is for most people to dehumanize the mentally ill, the more overwhelmed you become by the enormity of the problem.

As I became more directly aware of mental illness (I have a literally-crazy mother-in-law) I really began to see modern cultures in a very different light. The mentally ill are subjects of mockery, both gentle and extreme, and as evidenced by friends-of-friends on facebook, they are characterized as practically supernatural. If you have conservative-leaning friends in conservative parts of the country, look at what their friends are saying. This is evil! This is Satan's work! This man is a monster!

Except no. These aren't people who deserve to be tortured. They are people who live with daily mental torture you really cannot understand until you've lived with someone with severe mental illness. And a lot of it can be treated, but not in a country where quality health care comes with an incredible price tag.

To write this off as an excuse for the existence of evil spirits, to proclaim that torturing people like this somehow will justify anything - I'm at a loss for words as to how I describe that kind of thinking. It's not thinking. It's a purely emotional response. It's oblivious to observed reality.

[Shnoorum]

(flame suit on)

Wow. Now, I really haven't read much on this story yet (just had my own family loss, so really not in the mood), so I'm not going to say whether I believe this guy had extreme issues versus just being a bad egg. But I can't let your statement go...are you just completely and utterly oblivious to how the human body works? When I read your above quote, I see "Alzheimer's is bullshit, those old fucks are just forgetful". Like it or not, people can actually be truly incapable of what you or I would call rational thought. Sometimes the result relatively harmless, but sometimes, it can lead to violence towards others. Your attitude towards mental disorders is painfully ignorant, and it's views like this that make it so difficult to try to actually help people.

Looking back at my post it was a pretty ignorant thing to say and I appologize. However I can't help but feel animosity to all these murderers, regardless of why they did it. I just get tired of hearing about all these shootings and murders. It seems to just be getting worse and worse. At any rate, sorry for the comment and sorry to hear about your loss