I appreciate your carrying on the conversation with me, Jedidah.
My nerves were raw for a couple reasons when I read the blogger’s piece, and one was the immediate demonization by the media of gun owners like me, an effort that is obviously ongoing.
You might say I don’t like being stigmatized either.
The reason I focused on her use of the word is that she brought it into play at the end of the piece, the conclusion, the last word on the matter.
It really bugs me that the “sensitivities” involved are supposed to be our focus here—I don’t know if you noticed but just yesterday the Presidential spokesman lambasted Republicans for resisting tax increases that would go to help “middle-class families with disabled children.”
It seems to me that the slaughter and the innocent victims ought to be our main concern here, not the tender feelings involved in how we describe or treat or even punish the perpetrators. Those factors are important but they are far from paramount.
I agreed with you previously that identification, diagnoses and treatment—doesn’t that possibly include institutionalization?—are the first priorities here.
But even at this point it seems that if the conversation is joined by by anyone but you and other families immediately involved, then we are guilty of “stigmatizing.”
How are we supposed to behave, Jedidah? If we don’t talk to you about it, we are turning away and hiding. If we do bring it up, we intrude on your painful realities.
The discussion is very difficult for those on the outside too.
As I said my prayers are with you.
Thanks for the gracious post.
Please, we MUST talk about mental illness. That is the common denominator in almost all these mass murders — young men with mental problems and families that are powerless to force them into treatment or keep them from violence. These families are victims, too.
This very hard issue has to be addressed. We must change laws to give friends and families tools to intervene. A perp over 18 is protected by privacy laws that build a protective wall around them, but endanger us all.
Nancy Lanza was apparently trying to break down that wall and get legal authority to force her son into treatment when he found out and killed her.
The stigma attached to mental illness will go away when people realize that most cases truly have roots in physical malfunction. When body chemistry goes awry, it often affects the thinking process in bad ways. We now have effective drug treatment. We must talk about this and FORCE those with these ailments into either supervised treatment or incarceration. It CAN be done and still preserve our rights.
Adam Lanza was, according to the latest reports, untreated. No meds. How very sad for us all. I’ve seen, firsthand and repeatedly over years, how effective pharmacological treatment is for mental illness.
Guns are merely an easy method of murder, not the most effective. Take them away, and perps will use dynamite (google “Bath school massacre”), or trucks loaded with fertilizer, or a can of gasoline and matches. Mass murder has many methods.
Why don’t we discuss banning cars to counter drunk driving, a major killer of Americans every year?
As I write, I’m watching Barry0 hand the problem to Silly Joe. We truly are doomed.