This time seems different....

[Mikekoz13]

The most recent school shooting here in the USA feels very different to me. I am not minimizing any school shootings of the past.... each and every one was a tragedy.... but this one feels more sad and people here seem, to me, more deeply affected.

The horror of this particular shooting, I think because the children were so young and because the heros involved were all women, seems multitudes worse to me.

This seems like a "tipping point" to me. I believe that most people have just had it with non-sense. I Pray that the politicians in this country do NOT politicize this for their own benefit. Just this once I want them to act with compassion, not greed.

I'm just wondering... do you guys here in the USA think this shooting feels much different than those of the past??

Please don't sully my thread with political comments or your opinions on gun control because I will delete your post if you do.

Just please, tell me if you think it feels different this time.

[Razor X]

It does feel different, perhaps because as you said most of the victims were so very young or perhaps because it's so close to Christmas.  I've been avoiding the news as much as possible because I just can't bear to think about it.

[Switchy]

I agree this is different.  I think alot of it is due to the age and circumstances , also as Razor said the time of the year.  But they were so young .  Babies if you will .  My 2 cents worth.

[Frontier Guy]

It does feel different, and the conversations I'm overhearing are different as well.

[schro]

I don't know if this tragedy represents a "tipping point", as truly evil and/or disturbed people will continue to roam the earth.
However, the sheer number and age of these innocent children makes this even more mind numbing than the tragedies that preceeded it.

RIP to the innocent and prayers to their families.

[BaldHDbiker]

I agree it does feel different likely due to the ages of the children. The adults apparently lost their lives trying to stop him. Very very sad indeed.

One of the news stories I watched were talking about looking for warning signs that typically occur prior to an event like this. I hope more education gets out so others have an idea on what to look for and how to report it.

[Bald Hobbit]

You, me, this man too. I don't know, I feel like posting this is appropriate. I just hope posting it doesn't violate any rules.
http://rickardsreview.com/2012/12/15/america-is-to-blame-for-the-massacre-in-connecticut/

Something is different here. This is so messed up. And this has happened seemingly so many times this year. Maybe, now we're realizing that there's something chronic about this... somehting's up, societal, spiritual, something. Maybe after Aurora, these guys feel less impeded emotionally. This year has been messed up. I'm tired of looking at the news and finding some new tragedy every week. This is the worst in a long time though. I hurt just looking at the title of a news article about it online. I wish this would end, but for all our advancements, human nature just won't change. Maybe we need to stop trying to change it, or pretending that it's changed, and start facing it.

I'm sorry, this just poured out.

[mahaw90]

It is truly heartbreaking stuff. My mum had a tear in her eye watching the news.

[Tyler]

Yeah, this one feels different. In the past I felt there could have been a hero, or someone that could have stood up and taken out the coward that chose to commit such heinous acts.  I think this was because the victims at that time were near the age of the coward and while not armed, had more chance of survival.  In this instance these were little kids; innocent, lovable, defenseless and harmless little kids. 

None of these kids ever harmed this guy.  They weren't even old enough to harm anyone!  They had no connection to him.  For this it makes me furious that this mentally ill coward chose the most defenseless group of people that he could.  My heart aches and burns with fury every time I think of it.

[Mikekoz13]

You, me, this man too. I don't know, I feel like posting this is appropriate. I just hope posting it doesn't violate any rules.
http://rickardsreview.com/2012/12/15/america-is-to-blame-for-the-massacre-in-connecticut/

I read the piece and it is pertinent and in many ways exactly how I feel. I'll let it stand in the thread.
I found these two paragraphs very interesting and in my opinion spot on:

  But then we rejected everything that was right about America. We rejected the God-fearing, hard working, family-oriented social mores of the older generation as being at best hopelessly anachronistic, and at worst outright oppressive.  We traded God for secularism.  We traded love for sex.  We traded sobriety for drugs.  We traded order for chaos.  We traded discipline for indulgence.  We traded modesty for promiscuity.  We traded parents for absentee fathers and baby mommas.  We traded children for abortions.  We traded moderation for excess.  We traded home life for careers.  We traded role models for celebrities. We traded solidarity for grievances.  We traded music for death rock and gangsta rap.  We traded wholesome entertainment for violent and pornographic movies, television, and videogames.  We traded a culture which had made us great for a self-indulgent counterculture designed to destroy.  We traded everything that was right and good and holy for everything that is wrong and evil and depraved.

            See, the problem in America is not the occasional mass shooting.  That’s just a symptom, the most salient manifestation of a culture that has become entirely debauched.  We don’t treat each other humanely because we don’t see each other as humans, our selfish, sex and violence-obsessed culture having conditioned us to see others as nothing more than targets of, and obstacles to our own gratification.

[b.driscoll]

  It is the age  of the majority of the victims. That and the fact that there almost seems to be no way to stop this. The shooter and his parents obviously had tremendous problems that were not dealt with. I have heard stories that the mother told baby sitters to NOT let the kid out of their sight or turn their back on him. So to ''bond'' with this kid she teaches him how to shoot and leaves weapons and ammo for him to get to? What we need is better judgement form grown ups and a better way to deal with the mentally ill in society. It seems to me that we worry about some one's rights and ''feelings'' before we look at potential harm they may cause. I do not want gun control.................I want more common sense .

[Sir Harry]

It just breaks my heart that these poor children never had a chance to really live.....I can only think of what fine individuals they might have been.....On a side note, I noticed that while we remember the 26 victims at the school, which we should, no one is mentioning his mother who was killed at home....

[D.A.L.U.I.]

I have found that for many issues it helps me to comprehend the problems when I have the opportunity to learn what a person outside the issue observes and says.  One of my regular sources lately has been the International Edition of Spiegel, a very strong German news organization.  This article presents just such a view by a person outside our country sees.  While you may disagree with some particulars it strikes me that he describes the US, this particular horrific event and our reactions well.  It's worth considering.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/commentary-newton-and-the-fatal-national-identity-of-america-a-873350.html

[Natedawg]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/commentary-newton-and-the-fatal-national-identity-of-america-a-873350.html

Great read. Thanks for sharing! 

[Hingatao]

I hadn't really thought about it but you're right. The fact that the majority of the victims were just six and seven years old is what makes this one particularly tragic. Talk about innocent victims. I'm listening to more coverage on TV as I write this 5 days after the fact and it's not getting any easier to comprehend.