The Editor, Amandala
Mon. Nov. 26, 2012
I hope you don’t think I am being cynical, but I do believe it is time for us as a society to put aside a day to focus all attention on our murderers.
We have dedicated special days to concentrate on major ills and evils in our society – HIV/AIDS, Diabetes, Cancer, Gender Based Violence, etc. And we have put aside special occasions to honor and remember those who we consider worthy of attention and discussion – Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Children’s Day, Queen’s Birthday Honors, Heroes and Patriots Day, Remembrance Day for World War I and II veterans, Murder Victims, etc.
But there is one group, apparently growing in size, that may be starving for attention. And perhaps it is time they are given that attention. Why?
It’s not to “big them up,” of course; but as a community, we need to face reality. All the marches, speeches and candlelight processions have had no effect on this problem that keeps growing and getting worse. Our murderers are getting younger, and they are getting more proficient; and the number of victims keeps growing.
These young men responsible for this dire situation are growing in number, and they live right among us, but still effectively on the fringes of our society. They don’t pay much attention to what is written in newspapers, reported on the radio or T.V. news about their victims. They do what they feel they need to do, because that is how they see society as leaving them to survive how they can. Life has maybe dealt them some hard cards; and the name of the game, as far as they are concerned, is to deal hard cards right back. It’s a jungle, as they see it; and life is short, so get “yours” while you can, and to hell with who gets hurt. Nobody cares about them; so they care about nobody. That’s their mentality; how else could they do the things they do, and still live with themselves?
Murderers don’t care. How can we make them care? How can we make them listen?
By calling them out, addressing them directly, with a declared and publicized “Murderers Day,” they will be forced to give us their attention. And then maybe what we have to say will be heard, and hopefully have an impact. Right now, we are talking to the wind, and beating our heads against a stone wall.
On Murderers Day, we will ask hard questions of the murderers; we will try to get inside their heads; and try to slip inside the cracks of their grey matter, some elements of concern and empathy, to effectively humanize them, where they haven’t been humanized before. How else could they be doing the things they have been doing?
On Murderers Day we will, once we have grabbed their attention, compel them to look closely at the lives of the departed that they have killed, and ask them what can they now do with the rest of THEIR remaining lives to effectively atone for the lives lost and the pain they have inflicted on the families of their victims. If we are able to get the murderers to only hear that question, and ponder for a moment its significance, we will be a long way closer to curbing the spreading tide of heartless carnage that has been sweeping our little Jewel.
St. Paul was once known as Saul, a persecutor of Christians on behalf of the Roman Empire, until he was reportedly struck down by a blinding light from above that ignited his conscience and made him a believer in the Creator of all life and the dignity of his fellow man.
We’ve seemingly tried everything. Why not let us dedicate a day when we speak specifically and directly to the murderers in our midst, whoever they are or would be? They will feel invisible and neglected no more. They will get all the attention we can give on that day, all day long. It might be our way of “praying down the walls of Jericho.”
The numbers have been growing yearly; and we are on record pace in 2012.
Let’s have a Murderers Day, and see if that helps.
Charles X