Throw away humans
Ironically and sadly, as the Christian season of Lent begins this year, in addition to the brutal fighting going on between fractions in countries and between countries, there are many instances of violence between and among people in the United States. On February 14, 2018 there was another school shooting - in Florida resulting in 17 deaths and many more injured. A 19 year-old young man named Nikolas Cruz was the shooter. He is “described as a volatile teenager whose strange behavior had caused others to end friendships with him, particularly after the fight that led to his expulsion from the school.” (AP article reprinted in the intelligencer, Wheeling News-Register on February 15, 2018, page 1)
News of this shooting joins discussions and controversy about sexual harassment by a host of powerful figures in the United States and two recent reports of White House Aides being accused of a history of domestic violence. President Trump has been sharply criticized for tweeting that “lives are being shattered and destroyed by mere allegations.”(February 10, 2018) Later he issued a statement saying he was “totally opposed to domestic violence of any kind.”
I read sentencing reports in the local newspaper including a 31-year-old man being convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole.
In the past few years:
There is progress in acknowledging that expelling or locking up kids and adults in jail does not prevent future antisocial or violent behavior.
Yet, we continue to both expel and lose a number of students in our secondary education system. We also continue to incarcerate an alarming number of individuals for substantial periods of time without any concrete evidence that doing do creates a more just or safer community.
It appears that Nikolas Cruz was one of the throw away young people whose anger continued to grow and has now permanently affected the lives of thousands of students, parents, extended family members, and the larger community. Mr. Cruz will undoubtedly be tried and convicted of murder if he is found mentally competent to stay trial. He will then join thousands of others who are warehoused. Clearly the day he was expelled from school he might as well as been labeled a throw away person.
Very few of those who are expelled from a school end up engaging in a mass shooting. Some who are expelled even end up being outstanding, contributing members of the community. Many do not.
We need to take violence seriously – school violence, domestic violence, murder and other instances of violence. Yet, both the message of Jesus as we approach Easter and of modern social scientists is that redemption/treatment/healing is possible. Yes, there are those who we do not know how to help heal. Some may have brains, which are incapable of empathy. They do not hand select those brains in the local store. They deserve our compassion and our tender mercy. If some need to be in a secure environment then let it be in place where they are treated with respect.
President Trump is right. Lets not ruin lives with accusations. At the very same time lets take the symptoms of illness seriously. If someone has not been successfully treated for their violence then they are a danger and must be lovingly treated as such. Nikolas Cruz was a danger as are those untreated for domestic violence. They deserve our loving and respectful support. Let’s take symptoms seriously – not with the goal of throwing away but of treatment or putting in a safe environment when we do not know how to treat.
Written February 15, 2018
Ironically and sadly, as the Christian season of Lent begins this year, in addition to the brutal fighting going on between fractions in countries and between countries, there are many instances of violence between and among people in the United States. On February 14, 2018 there was another school shooting - in Florida resulting in 17 deaths and many more injured. A 19 year-old young man named Nikolas Cruz was the shooter. He is “described as a volatile teenager whose strange behavior had caused others to end friendships with him, particularly after the fight that led to his expulsion from the school.” (AP article reprinted in the intelligencer, Wheeling News-Register on February 15, 2018, page 1)
News of this shooting joins discussions and controversy about sexual harassment by a host of powerful figures in the United States and two recent reports of White House Aides being accused of a history of domestic violence. President Trump has been sharply criticized for tweeting that “lives are being shattered and destroyed by mere allegations.”(February 10, 2018) Later he issued a statement saying he was “totally opposed to domestic violence of any kind.”
I read sentencing reports in the local newspaper including a 31-year-old man being convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole.
In the past few years:
- Worldwide, overall violence keeps going down.
- In the United States the number of out of school suspension and expulsions are sharply down.
- In the United States the number and scope of alternative programs such as drug court has increased.
There is progress in acknowledging that expelling or locking up kids and adults in jail does not prevent future antisocial or violent behavior.
Yet, we continue to both expel and lose a number of students in our secondary education system. We also continue to incarcerate an alarming number of individuals for substantial periods of time without any concrete evidence that doing do creates a more just or safer community.
It appears that Nikolas Cruz was one of the throw away young people whose anger continued to grow and has now permanently affected the lives of thousands of students, parents, extended family members, and the larger community. Mr. Cruz will undoubtedly be tried and convicted of murder if he is found mentally competent to stay trial. He will then join thousands of others who are warehoused. Clearly the day he was expelled from school he might as well as been labeled a throw away person.
Very few of those who are expelled from a school end up engaging in a mass shooting. Some who are expelled even end up being outstanding, contributing members of the community. Many do not.
We need to take violence seriously – school violence, domestic violence, murder and other instances of violence. Yet, both the message of Jesus as we approach Easter and of modern social scientists is that redemption/treatment/healing is possible. Yes, there are those who we do not know how to help heal. Some may have brains, which are incapable of empathy. They do not hand select those brains in the local store. They deserve our compassion and our tender mercy. If some need to be in a secure environment then let it be in place where they are treated with respect.
President Trump is right. Lets not ruin lives with accusations. At the very same time lets take the symptoms of illness seriously. If someone has not been successfully treated for their violence then they are a danger and must be lovingly treated as such. Nikolas Cruz was a danger as are those untreated for domestic violence. They deserve our loving and respectful support. Let’s take symptoms seriously – not with the goal of throwing away but of treatment or putting in a safe environment when we do not know how to treat.
Written February 15, 2018
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