In the wake of the Orlando shooting, the Facebook hottakes are too numerous to mention. To preserve my own dignity, I've decided to blog about it so I can get it off my chest with no risk of anyone reading it.
If you're not familiar with the situation, what appears to be a mentally deranged man shot up a gay club in Orlando and left 53 people, including himself, dead. These early reports we're seeing now seems to suggest he was doing it on behalf of the Islamic State.
Since the incident, everyone and their brother has come out with things we should do, things we should say, people we should blame. Most have been vague platitudes and kind words on Facebook. Many have been diatribes against the usual suspects: The NRA, Islam, Homosexuals. And who gets to make proclamations here is even up for grabs. Take for example Owen Jones, who in the clip below just walked out of the study because the other two weren't gay enough to comment on the incident.
I have a "friend" on Facebook who wrote "I swear if anyone comes out with #NotAllStrightPeople I'm going to scream." Which was funny because in my casual review of the news, I haven't seen anyone blame straight people int he first place. While I'm inclined to agree with Mr. Jones that the shooter probably didn't know the first thing about Islam, he's wrong to suggest that the issue in play here is homosexuality. Just as he claims the massacre will be co-opted in the anti-Terrorism fight, I believe he's co-opted the incident for his own agenda. It's hard to say exactly what that is, but it seems to me that he's making this an issue about homosexuality when it's clear to me the issue at hand is mental illness.
And more importantly, lets say what this isn't about: Religion; Guns; and Gays. They're all symptoms of the same disease. And whenever a tragedy happens people use their own world view to make sense of things. But the facts remain the same. If we didn't arrest Salinger because of Mark David Chapman, then blaming Islam on this one is ludicrous And frankly, taking guns away from people doesn't seem to me to solve the problem. That the man could buy a weapon while on the no-fly list is ridiculous. That he was on the no-fly list because he was a terrorist sympathizer is even more disappointing. The government doesn't function right now. And at least 53 people are dead because of it.
I fear currently that too many people will think the issue is Islam and homosexuality and won't give this the proper weight it deserves. Because the truth is that those people who are estranged from reality have a position. And the severity of that position isn't something they can control. What justification they use is irrelevant. And all this is to say that tomorrow, someone who shouldn't be allowed to drive can buy a weapon and shoot up your favorite bar, or workplace, or church. The only question we're waiting on now is how many more shootings will take place before we actually do something about mental illness.
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