I don't hate school shooters any more than I hate rapists, pedophiles, republicans, or anyone else for that matter. I don't hate people. I don't hate anyone. Does shooting up a school of children make you more of a monster than fighting in a war where innocent civilians get caught up in the crossfire? Maybe. Maybe not. I'll tell you why it seems that way. School shooters have no purpose. They aren't trying to save or defend anyone and accidentally killing children in the process. They haven't been ordered to do this by their employer either. They are deliberately taking the lives of innocent children who cannot defend themselves. Someone fighting in a war presumably does not kill innocent people on purpose. They are fighting for something they (or at least someone over them)believe is bigger than the life of those who are lost as collateral damage. I think the main thing is that it seems so much more horrifying when you see a school full of kids getting killed. Still...school shooters are usually just kids themselves. I can think them a monster for the horrible thing they've done, but I cannot hate them. My heart breaks when I consider what horrors they must've lived, even if only in their minds, to become such monsters.

---

Also, welcome back. Hopefully you plan to post less stuff about hating and killing, and more stuff about...well...anything else.

(November 21, 2014 at 1:28 pm)MusicLovingAtheist Wrote: I just don't see what kind of ethics are behind acting so sanctimonious like you're so much better than a school shooter.

As you get older you'll see that people generally think very highly of themselves and their holiness.

(November 21, 2014 at 2:05 pm)Pickup_shonuff Wrote:

(November 21, 2014 at 1:28 pm)MusicLovingAtheist Wrote: I just don't see what kind of ethics are behind acting so sanctimonious like you're so much better than a school shooter.

As you get older you'll see that people generally think very highly of themselves and their holiness.

Uhh...at the risk of sounding self-righteous, I think I'm more moral than someone who shoots a school full of kids.

(November 21, 2014 at 1:28 pm)MusicLovingAtheist Wrote: I just don't understand the mentality behind people who are all about demonizing school shooters. They're obviously some kids who are either deviant or just extremely disturbed. I just don't see what kind of ethics are behind acting so sanctimonious like you're so much better than a school shooter. So people go over seas and kill people all the time. People kill people in the electric chair, people kill each other at school. What's the difference in your eyes? I don't see a seamless ethic here on your part, people who hate school shooters. Eric (Dylan's friend) once said that "there is no such thing as good or evil, it's all relative to the observer".

I try not to demonize them. I try to put myself in their shoes and understand what would lead them to such extreme behavior, but ultimately, no matter what hardships they've experienced, they chose to respond with extreme violence. That is not something I can condone nor tolerate, because everyone in the world struggles at some point. I'm sorry if they feel the world is against them and no one understands. I feel that way, too, quite often. But fuck them for thinking that the irreversible act of taking someone's life is an appropriate response.

(November 21, 2014 at 1:28 pm)MusicLovingAtheist Wrote: I just don't understand the mentality behind people who are all about demonizing school shooters. They're obviously some kids who are either deviant or just extremely disturbed. I just don't see what kind of ethics are behind acting so sanctimonious like you're so much better than a school shooter. So people go over seas and kill people all the time. People kill people in the electric chair, people kill each other at school. What's the difference in your eyes? I don't see a seamless ethic here on your part, people who hate school shooters. Eric (Dylan's friend) once said that "there is no such thing as good or evil, it's all relative to the observer".

Relative to this observer, anyone who fires at children in schools just cuz should be demonized. I'm not pleased with children in schools who shoot each other either.

The purpose of executing killers is to stop further killings by known killers. There are people (the majority of Europeans) who think that executions are always immoral, but even so, they probably recognize that that the wholesale slaughter of innocents just cuz is rather different than execution for a crime against others after a trial.

McVeigh blew up a daycare full of kids (among all his other victims). Helluva escalation from 'ordinary' school shooting. Thankfully an atrocity not repeated again in Oklahoma City or the rest of the US

(November 21, 2014 at 2:12 pm)FatAndFaithless Wrote: Uhh...at the risk of sounding self-righteous, I think I'm more moral than someone who shoots a school full of kids.

I should certainly hope so. But people generally credit themselves where such credit isn't really due. I consider myself a good person too. But I don't blame myself, rather I blame an abundance of luck.

(November 21, 2014 at 3:06 pm)Pickup_shonuff Wrote:

(November 21, 2014 at 2:12 pm)FatAndFaithless Wrote: Uhh...at the risk of sounding self-righteous, I think I'm more moral than someone who shoots a school full of kids.

I should certainly hope so. But people generally credit themselves where such credit isn't really due. I consider myself a good person too. But I don't blame myself, rather I blame an abundance of luck.

Who do you blame for the goodness of people who have an abundance of bad luck?
I suppose I'll blame my DNA. Maybe you count that as luck.

(November 21, 2014 at 3:09 pm)Losty Wrote: Who do you blame for the goodness of people who have an abundance of bad luck?
I suppose I'll blame my DNA. Maybe you count that as luck.

Basically, yeah, it boils down to DNA and environment.

(November 21, 2014 at 3:12 pm)Pickup_shonuff Wrote:

(November 21, 2014 at 3:09 pm)Losty Wrote: Who do you blame for the goodness of people who have an abundance of bad luck?
I suppose I'll blame my DNA. Maybe you count that as luck.

Basically, yeah, it boils down to DNA and environment.

It's hard not to be proud of my DNA. I got some fucking awesome DNA. The only nice thing my parents ever gave me. :p