I believe in freedom of religion! Everyone has the right to worship who, what and how they want to according to their own conscience. No one should be ashamed to say their religion and should not be ridiculed for what they believe. It’s one of the foundations of most of the democracies in the Western world.
On the flip side, while everyone has the right to their freedom of religion, they do not have the right to impose their beliefs on other individuals. This could include monkeying with the law, violence, threat of violence, intimidation, manipulating social structures or even playing the ‘race’ card. Just because you think your religion is the ‘right one,’ it doesn’t mean that you have to make everyone else believe it as well.
It’s a good thing I paused a moment to read the headlines otherwise this post might have been out of date before I even wrote it. However, it does change the scope of the post. Upon my return from spending the weekend with my wife’s two granddaughters up in Grimsby, I learned that the Kentucky State Parole Board denied parole to Michael Carneal, who in 1997, went into Heath High School in Paducah and shot three classmates dead and wounded five more. The parole board recommended that Carneal serve the rest of his life sentence.
As always the case, in the weeks leading up to the parole hearing, there was much debate as to whether the shooter should be granted it. I will first answer the obvious question, “What if it had been my child who was killed or wounded that fateful day?” If it had, I probably would Carneal to remain in prison for the remainder of his life. I can sympathize with one victim, Melissa Jenkins, who was 15 at the time and is now paralyzed from chest down. Her sentence of being confined to a wheelchair will be for life with no possibility of ever walking again. Furthermore, while I am one of the biggest hippy liberals going, I do believe that if one callously and maliciously takes the life of another human being, then that person should forfeit their own life.
On the other hand, could it be possible for Carneal to cope on the outside with no chance of repeating the tragedy he perpetrated 25 years earlier? In his defense, he has been a model prisoner, undergone therapy for his mental health disorders and claims to have total remorse for his actions. There is also the fact that he was only 14 at the time. Furthermore, there are the events which led up to the shooting. His undiagnosed schizophrenia, he was bullied at school and the fact that he was branded gay in the school newspaper, which when he complained to school authorities, was told it wasn’t a big deal. All of these contributed to a 14 year old boy snapping and doing the unthinkable. However, the question remains: Are they grounds for him being granted parole?
Like with most instance like this, it has me reflecting back to my own youth when I was bullied so bad that I could have easily picked up a gun and did the same as Carneal. Confession time! While I didn’t copy the Paducah shooting when I wrote “He Was Weird,” I did use a bit from it. Like Carneal, Mark in the story is also branded gay in the school newspaper. When he tells his mother about it, she doesn’t seem too concerned, in fact, she is more concerned at the fact that he failed Math. However, parents of one of the other boys who were branded gay in the school paper threaten to sue the school for libel. Of course, it is automatically assumed that it’s Mark’s parents who are threatening legal action and the editor of the paper encourages people to take their anger out on Mark. He gets bullied for something he didn’t do. While that didn’t happen to me in real life, I do believe that if it had, things would have followed the path set out in the story. It would have been assumed that my parents were threatening a law suit and I would have paid the price for it.
So in one respect, I can sympathize with Michael Carneal. There is a huge difference between a 14 year old mind and a 39 year old one and I can see the argument for giving him a chance. Then I can also see the side of the victims, some of whom were denied their chance at life. So, this is my suggestion, not that many will take it seriously.
I think of a case in Great Britain in 1992 where two ten year old boys murdered a two year old boy. They served time in prison and when they became adults, were released on parole. They were given new identities and barred from visiting the area where the murder took place. While one of the boys has not been heard from since, the other has been sent back to prison for possessing images of child pornography. While I know this doesn’t solve the problem one way or the other I wonder if it couldn’t be tried in the US. Could Carneal, be given a new identity, be relocated to another part of Kentucky or even another state with the warning he will be arrested if he returns to Paducah? It’s something to contemplate and has given me an idea for a future post.
Author Cherie White has been sharing her latest book, “Townies, Cronies and Hayseeds II,” on her blog Chateau Cherie. I have been reading along and I am finding it a fascinating read. The story is about an abused wife and mother named Brielle, who after suffering years of torment from her abusive husband, flees her California home and returns to her native Tennessee town. However, shortly after her return, she discovers that people in her home town haven’t changed.
Growing up, Brielle suffered badly at the hands of bullies. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before those bullies remember who she was and try to pick up from where they had left off. After videoing one bullying incident and letting it go viral on the net, Brielle unintentionally puts herself and her daughters in danger as the daughters experience the same bullying their mother did at the hands of the offspring of her bullies. The bullying instances so far have been harrowing and I am reading each part sitting on the edge of my seat and salivating to know what happens next. It is a clear example if a former bullying target moves out of where they were bullied, why they should never return.
I strongly recommend anyone who has been a target of bullying or a repentant or even unrepentant bully to read her blog. You can follow by clicking the link: https://cheriewhite.blog/
Example Two comes from the latest season of the television series, “Cobra Kai,” on Netflix. While I won’t go into the back story, the series follows on from “The Karate Kid” film franchise and the series is set thirty plus years on from the films. In a recent episode, Danny LaRusso’s wife, Amanda, wants a break from her husband due to the fallout karate is having on the family. She goes back to her native Ohio and while on a night out with an old friend, some of her old nemesis recognize her as the girl who swung a baseball bat at a car. The nemesis and her friends keep badgering Amanda and her friend and a fight breaks out in the bar. Have a look.
Although both are fiction, they are two clear examples why it’s best that a former target of bullying leave the past behind, get the hell out of Dodge and piss on its grave. Returning only brings back bad memories and those who were bullies, will think they can return to their glory days despite how much the target has changed. Which is exactly why I will never go back to Margate, New Jersey.
As the world already knows, last week, a widow, mother, grandmother, great grandmother and aunt passed away. The Queen of Great Britain, Elizabeth II, died in her sleep aged 96. For some, she was a symbol which made many people proud to be British. To others, she was the symbol of an archaic system as well as colonial oppression around the world. To her family, she was simply mum, nana, Aunty Liz or whatever terms of affection they used towards her.
I am in none of those camps. When I came to Great Britain 36 years ago, it wasn’t because I wanted to see the Royal Family nor did I have any interest in them. I came over to study at college, during which time, I met the woman who had different ideas about me returning to the States. Furthermore, I was at the height of my romance with Marxism and agreed with those on the left that she was a symbol of British colonialism. After all, my American forefathers had a revolution against what they thought was the oppression of the British monarchy and won their independence. I could go into more historical detail here but I won’t. However, the US Constitution prohibits anyone from bestowing titles of nobility, which came as a direct result of the revolution. This is why I shake my head in disbelief at Americans who go all gooey eyed over the Royal Family. They’re people just like you and me!
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate the Royal Family and I do send my condolences to them just as I would anyone who lost a relative. I haven’t forgotten how friends and family on both sides of the Atlantic sent me theirs when my mother passed in 2018. However, this brings me to my next point. A few days before the Queen’s death, my step-daughter in law, Julie’s mother died. I am more focused on that than I am the Royal Family because she was part of my family. That’s the way anyone would be! So, yes, I am deeply sorry for the loss of the Queen but even more sorry for the loss of Julie’s mother, Nicola, especially as she and my wife were good friends so I am trying to be a support for my wife as well. I don’t have room to have a big cry over someone I didn’t really know, even if she was the Queen.
Rest in peace Nicola Powell. Rest in peace Her Majesty.
The person who contacted me stated that I incorrectly stated that Columbine High School was in Littleton, Colorado when in fact it’s located in the town of Columbine and part of the Jefferson County School District. When I write posts, I try to be as accurate as I can with the facts and if someone points out a mistake, (I’m only human) I am grateful for it and will correct the mistake. I only hope in this person’s case that it didn’t detract from the message of that post.
Now some might consider the person who pointed out the mistake a complete saddo for making such a big deal over a tiny inaccuracy. After all, it didn’t effect the theme of the post. However, that is a trait of Autism. Now, I don’t know if this person is on the Spectrum but with many people with Autism, little things like that will gnaw away at them until something is done about it. In this case, it could have effected their reading of the post. So no, I don’t think this person is sad, I thank him or her for making sure I got my facts right.
Why do they do it? What makes someone want to go out and shoot up their school? This has been a big question ever since two boys at Columbine High School in Colorado went into their school with a some guns and shot 12 students and one teacher dead and wounded about 36 more. Of course, everyone had their answers and some of the more ridiculous ones will be the subject of next week’s post but there is no clear agreement as to what makes a person shoot up their school. Therefore, I am going to add my theory to the mix and you are welcome to agree or disagree and venture your opinion here.
Access to guns: I thought this would have been a simple one. After all, you can’t shoot up your school unless you have a gun. However, many in America do not put this as the number one reason. While I am going to bring up many more contributing factors as to why a shooting occurs, the bottom line is that you need a gun to do it. I can personally attest to this. If I was thirty years younger and went through the hell I experienced between the ages of 10 and 13 and had access to guns, I could have easily gone and shot up my school. By the way, I am not anti-gun.
Mental Health Issues: This covers a wide criteria ranging from feelings of isolation and being made to feel like a failure and that everyone disapproves of them to more diagnosable mental health conditions like Asperger’s Syndrome or ADHD. These all play a part in influencing someone to pick up a gun and kill the school. In my book, “He Was Weird,” main character, Mark, has been made to feel like a failure by his teachers, peers and even his mother to a lesser degree. While he is diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome and DAMP, it isn’t taken seriously and he is seen as a nuisance by the school. With these feelings of rejection, it is no wonder he takes advantage when he has access to guns.
Bullying: Ask anyone who has been severely bullied as a child and they will tell you that they would have loved to have picked up a gun and shot all of their bullies down. I speak from personal experience here. I was bullied so bad during those three years that the thought of shooting the bullies crossed my mind several times. Revenge is a popular reason why some kids shoot up their school or it might just be that they fear for their own safety.
Witness abuse elsewhere: They may see abuse in the home or come from a neighbourhood where violence is common or they may even witness a lot of it on TV, movies or playing violent computer games. While I am not one to say that playing “Doom” or watching slasher movies will exclusively cause someone to commit a school shooting, when combined with the other factors, it could be what pushes a shooter over the edge.
More minor factors: While for me, the top three are the biggest reasons behind school shootings, there are others which can be taken into account. One is encouragement from social media. Someone might put how they are feeling on a website and others might think it’s funny to encourage that person who is feeling low to murder their school. Drink and drugs can also play an effect. There are many more minor factors which can also contribute to why a school shooting happens.
I think this quote from former Dead Kennedys lead singer and now spoken word artist Jello Biafra best sums up what might make a person shoot up their school.
There is nothing more dangerous than someone who feels they have nothing to live for and therefore nothing to lose. They don’t particularly want to die but they can’t see the point of living. They know who’s responsible for wrecking their lives and figure, ‘If I have to die, I’m taking them with me.’ This has been a fact of ghetto life from time immemorial but now that it’s hit middle class white suburbia. Those who don’t buy into the game are all fair game. But no matter how much we profile, harass and ban music, some vacant stranger out there, raised on guns, raised on hate, molested by paedophile relatives, their minds f*cked by over prescribed narcotics, smothered by more successful siblings and the pressure to be perfect will find a way to be pop star for a day and we’ll tune in and watch every time.