I am definintely not a doomsday prophet, "the world's going to hell in a handbasket," kind of guy. I'm usually the guy looking for the silver lining. I'm usualy the one saying, "things might SEEM bad, but it's really probably not all that different than how it usually is, or how it was back then, or we're only hearing about the bad stuff . . ."
But my gosh . . . is it just me or is the amount and intensity of the violence and evil we're seeing in the news reaching crazy levels? My web-browser home page is CNN.com, and on the front page of CNN's homepage are these news headlines:
"Six Die In California Townhouse Shooting," "Man Beheads Sister, 5, In Front of Cop" (I just watched the video on this story, and my skin is still crawling), "Amber Alert Ends With Death of Two Boys," "Alleged Torturer Accused in 15,000 Deaths," "Father Accused of Decades-Long Incest, Rape."
That's what I saw in the news today. . . . TODAY! Just yesterday was the story of the guy who shot up a nursing home in North Carolina, killing EIGHT people. In fact, just think about the stories of insane violence we've seen in the United States in the past 8 months:
July 27, 2008 -- One person was killed and eight others were wounded as a man opened fire inside a church with a shotgun in the city of Knoxville, Tennessee.
Sept. 2, 2008 -- Six people were shot dead and two were wounded in a series of shooting incidents in Washington State.
Aug. 1, 2008 -- A gunman took the lives of three teenagers and injured another near Menominee River in northern Wisconsin.
Aug. 13, 2008 -- A man forced his way into the Arkansas Democratic headquarters and fatally shot state party chairman Bill Gwatney.
Oct. 16, 2008 -- One high-school student was killed and three were seriously injured when a gunman shot at them near their school in Detroit, Michigan.
Oct. 26, 2008 -- Two people were killed and one was injured in a shooting incident at the University of Central Arkansas.
Dec. 14, 2008 -- A man dressed in a Santa Claus costume barged into a Christmas Eve party in Covina, a Los Angeles suburb, and opened fire, killing nine people before taking his own life.
Jan. 24, 2009 -- Two people were killed and seven others wounded in a gun shooting spree by unidentified assailants in a house in Wichita, Kansas.
Jan. 24, 2009 -- On the same day, two teenagers died and seven others were injured when a gunman opened fire at a group of students outside a nightspot in Portland, Oregon.
Feb. 24, 2009 -- At least seven people were injured in a gun shooting incident at the New Orleans' Mardi Gras festival.
Mar. 8, 2009 -- A gunman walked into a crowded Sunday morning church service and opened fire on the pastor, killing him and wounding 2 others before taking his own life.
Mar. 10, 2009 -- A gunman killed 10 people and himself in an hour-long rampage in Alabama that left his mother, grandmother and other relatives dead.
Mar. 15, 2009 -- In a vicious shooting case that happened in Miami, the gunman shot four people to death and committed suicide.
Don't mean to be "Debbie Downer" here, and I'm not crying "Tribulation!" I know that bad economies, increased stress on people, people getting laid off, all that tends to lead to increased levels of crime. It's just that the amount and type of crime and evil we're seeing right now seems a little over-the-top to me, and it's becoming a little too normal. Remember 10 years ago when we were all shocked by Columbine and do you remember how long it took for that shock to wear off? I wonder if we'd be as shocked today.
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