The recent mass murder in Orlando has shaken me to the core. The act itself was horrible. Just horrible. But, the reaction of so many Americans has left me with a sense of desperation about what our country has become.
For a land that once prided itself on being founded for religious freedom, for being a melting pot of races and cultures, I see a growing, vocal trend that insists only white Christian heterosexual people are welcome. I see Facebook posts from the Woodstock generation and I shake my head and wonder, what the hell happened to them?
Though the reasons this shooter actually entered the nightclub and murdered fifty people are complex, there are certain realities that too many in our country are trying to deny. First of all, this man was not an illegal/legal alien from an Islamic country. He was born and raised in America. His father is devastated by what his son did. Those racist cries to keep Muslims from entering America, are just that - racism. What is going on in America when targeting a race of people is not considered abhorrent? Why is it okay with 'Muricans to hate people of color? to proudly flaunt that hate under the guise of patriotism? to make innocent people afraid to leave their homes? Do none of these people know about the Japanese internment camps that our country forced Americans to live in? Do none of these people know our country's history of denying Jews escaping Hitler access to our country- how it happened and the why of it all? I think not. Unacceptable ignorance.
Secondly, so-called patriots are determined to make this an ISIS attack on all of America. No matter what the murderer said, it is being reported that outside terrorist organizations were not involved in this mass murder. Personally, I think his cry of allegiance to ISIS was a way to make himself feel more noble, to make himself feel like a martyr instead of a pathetic homophobe. The person who did this purposely targeted a specific group of people, the LGBT community. In my opinion, there is no denying that the vitriol constantly touted in the social networking pages and even in a lot of churches, fed this mentally ill man's hatred. He saw two men kissing and he was outraged. A friend of mine recently wrote that when she and her lesbian fiancé enter a room, they have to read the crowd. They have to protect themselves, they have to be on guard, they have to answer to the nagging fear that someone will do them harm for being who they are and for loving each other. This is shameful. This is wrong. And listen up, "patriots," this is un-American.
Why has the Congress of this country allowed the NRA to buy them? Too many people have no common sense when it comes to gun control. Don't bother to smugly argue this point with me because I have heard the bullshit and I do not buy it. This guy was able to legally purchase a weapon of mass destruction. Legally. I cannot fathom any mentality that tries to justify such gun ownership. Civilized countries that have taken gun ownership seriously and have enacted the laws needed, do not have the constant domestic gun murders that our country is growing used to. When I traveled in China and Venezuela I was asked more than once how many guns I owned and what kind I had. I was appalled to realize that the general perception of Americans was not just that we're fat, loud, and entitled, but that we're all gun slingers.
I have not attempted to enter into debate on Facebook, and frankly, I'm not interested in any "debate" concerning this blog. On Facebook, I have consciously not pointed out that many of you who are "standing with" Orlando or who have altered your pictures with the rainbow and the "I am Orlando" banner have repeatedly posted memes where, at best, you make fun of the LGBT community, and at the worst, express disgust with that which you don't understand. When so-called "truths" are used to incite fear, promote hatred, and embrace racism, I am reminded of something Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and consciencious stupidity."
America does not need to fear intruders destroying our country. We are imploding.
