By Rabbi Ben Kamin
SAN DIEGO–It was midnight at the Century 16 “Cineplex” in Aurora, Colorado—an eerie time of night ghoulishly in sync with the conceit of the latest in the Batman movie franchise. Also in mode: the maddening theme of “ambivalence” in terms of good / evil that is trademark of these Dark Knight productions—as if we are artistically timid about showing young people the clear facts about what is good and what is bad. We certainly accede to the portrayal of unbridled, computer-enhanced violence and savagery on our high-digital neighborhood screens.
Allegedly, a 24-year old gunman emerged from the shadows of the theater and opened fire with a rifle, a shotgun, and a smoke-producing device—the latest horror in the American cycle of city carnage.
At the time of this writing, there are twelve confirmed deaths. The wounds, of both flesh and spirit, the cosmic shock of this Denver-area community are beyond description and enumeration.
Investigators said they had yet to establish a motive for the massacre, which was just the latest of deadly mass shootings in the US—a nation obsessed with the economy and with couture and totally out-of-touch with the spiritual and educational requirements of its children.
Across our land on Thursday and today, July 20, people are again asking, why do people kill each other?
When a youngster asks this question (and certainly many have asked me), the first thing to say is: Most people don’t.
And yet–it’s impossible for any of us not to be thinking about this in an era of media saturation and brazen terrorism. A lot of kids carry a fair amount of anxiety on the subject. Let’s face it: Today’s youngsters aren’t watching grainy serials about “cowboys and Indians.” They are routinely watching, on everything from high definition TV sets to YouTube to their own iPhones, clear, immediate video images of people of people blowing each other’s brains outs.
Here’s a perspective: Sadly, this has been going on as long as there have been people living on this planet. It’s a fact that people have always hurt one another; the first “recorded” murder involved Cain and Abel of the Bible. Cain didn’t pack a handgun, but he did pack human nature. Lucky CNN, Fox, et al weren’t around to show the tape a thousand times over and to have a “panel of experts” rehash and review the matter till some of us would be convinced that nothing but fratricide ever occurs in families and neighborhoods–even though most families are basically loving and most neighborhoods are tranquil.
We need to remember that there isn’t more violence per capita in the world than there ever was before. It’s just more available for examination. Let’s keep this is in mind–while watching over one another, using common sense, and remembering that most people do not kill other people.
It is a time to begin the only war worth waging and that is the war against guns. Meanwhile, God rest the souls of the dead. And may the living have enough soul to discard their damned firearms.
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Rabbi Kamin is a freelance writer based in San Diego. He may be contacted at ben.kamin@sdjewishworld.com