Death To Hate!

As most of you know, very sad news from my hometown of Pittsburgh yesterday.  Yet another ugly mass shooting, this one at the Tree Of Life Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill section of the city.  I'm sure most of you have seen the story by now.  If not, you can find it here.

The hearts of most of us here in The 'Burgh are very heavy.  I wonder how many people here shared my ambivalent feelings.  "Pittsburgh is one of the safest cities in the US.  Surely a mass shooting could never happen here.  But it seems to be happening everywhere.  Someday even here."  Someday came yesterday.

It goes without saying that Call-Outs And Shout-Outs condemns the heinous acts of Robert Bowers.  And while we don't want to overly-politicize this tragedy, we call out the reaction of Donald Trump, who feels that more guns and the death penalty are the answer, despite the fact that three law enforcement officers were injured by gunfire in the attack.

Make no mistake, folks, this blogger affirms the Supreme Court's 2008 Heller decision regarding the individual's right to gun ownership for self-defense.  That also includes the part of the decision as applies to felons and the mentally ill.  It is too bad that we so infrequently realize or act upon someone's mental illness until it explodes into senseless violence.

But do we want to become the kind of society with armed guards everywhere, even our schools and churches?  Do we want to give in to the fear?

And when was the last time you noticed the death penalty deterring a mentally ill mass murderer?  Many, if not most kill themselves before they can be apprehended.  I do not believe Mr. Trump's response is realistic.  He is hideously obtuse, deliberately or otherwise, to the hate and mental/spiritual illness inherent in acts such as Bowers'.  And his contribution to it.

Our Shout-Out goes to the other side of the coin.  So frequently out of tragedies such as this one, we see acts of heroism, kindness, and generosity.  People coming together.  In Pittsburgh today, people were donating blood, holding vigils, feeding and comforting each other.  A GoFundMe page was set up, with 100% of funds donated to benefit the Tree Of Life Synagogue.  As of this writing, it had raised over $241,000, with a goal of $1 million.  I bet they get it, because there was one thing I could tell from visiting Twitter today -- #PittsburghStrong -- there's a lot of love out there!

Death To Hate!