From: dank 
Subject: SNET: [Fwd: The Colorado School Shootings - Letter to the Editor]
Date: 29 Apr 1999 02:26:33 -0400
To: "snetnews@world.std.com" 


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Mark Cashman wrote:

> Journal Inquirer
> Letters To The Editor
>
> ---
>
> In the wake of the school shootings in Colorado, there are those who ask "why?"
> and "what can be done?"
>
> The answer to "why?" assumes some basic level of rationality in the act - a
> rationality which I suspect does not exist. But the usual answers will be
> trotted out - bad childhood, irresponsible parents, oppression by an elite
> leading to resentment, the presence of guns... the list goes on and on. Sadly,
> those who propose such causes never note the millions upon millions of children
> who live under the same conditions and who have never even contemplated
> shooting their classmates or destroying their school, just as those who claim
> poverty causes crime never note the many people in poverty who do not engage in
> crime.
>
> Fundamentally, every human being, child or adult, has the ability to decide to
> take or not take an action. The means by which they decide their actions as
> good or evil is their moral code, which, to be effective and life-seeking,
> should be based on reason and reality. It is clear to me that if one truly
> wishes to see the causes of evil events, one must look back to the moral code
> as the fundamental source.
>
> If your moral code states that reality is an illusion; that actions are
> meaningless or have no consequences; that decisions should be based on the
> range of the moment or under the spur of unexamined, non-rational "feelings";
> that all people are equal-status members of groups rather than unique
> individuals; and that the difference between death and life is unimportant -
> then there is no moral obstacle to the act of killing.
>
> If, on the other hand, your moral code states that reality has objective
> existence, that actions have consequences, that decisions should be based on
> observation of reality and a process of logic, that emotions should be driven
> by values chosen by reason based on the nature of reality, that individuals are
> unique and irreplaceable, and that life and achievement are the highest values
> - then killing is almost impossible except in self-defense.
>
> If parents fail to hold this and teach this, they cannot depend on the schools,
> which are deliberately value-neutral, sometimes value-hostile and occasionally
> even dismissive of reason. They cannot depend on the children of their peers,
> since children need the guidance, experience, and intellectual support of
> adults as they develop, and if no one is offering that to children, they
> certainly cannot offer it to each other.
>
> What can be done to prevent such incidents in the future?
>
> First, it must be understood and accepted that there is no action or
> institution which can create a risk-free world, whether for children or adults.
> But every parent has a right to expect that the officials of a school will
> provide the means to defend their students against attack - and, by my
> evaluation, this can only mean the presence of (at minimum) an armed security
> guard - trained and prepared to use a weapon - in the school. When a similar
> step was taken in response to frequent airline hijackings, such events came to
> an end - it wasn't metal detectors, it was the presence of armed marshals that
> made it a risky business to hijack an airliner.
>
> It isn't gun control that will stop these incidents, either. Indeed, in the
> fifties, gun ownership by children was probably more widespread than it is now.
> Many schools had shooting clubs. Yet such incidents did not occur. But the
> dominant moral code at that time was certainly more rational that the dominant
> moral code now, after decades of existentialism, socialism, pragmatism,
> relativism, hedonism, and the other leftovers of Plato and Kant.
>
> Ultimately, to the extent that a majority of people use, teach, and embody in
> law a rational moral code, that is the extent to which the world will be safe -
> for children and adults alike. In the absence of that, all we can do is be
> prepared to defend ourselves and our family, and ensure that those to whom we
> have entrusted our children are equally prepared to defend them.
>
> ------
> Mark Cashman
> mcashman@ix.netcom.com
> 451 Prospect Hill Rd
> Windsor, CT 06095-1659
> 860 683-0835




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->  Posted by: dank