In a world where days like last Wednesday happen, we tend to look around for someone to help us make sense of it all. Wednesday was Valentine’s Day, but for many Floridians, instead of their biggest memory being of bright red candy hearts, they remembered the bright red blood of their friends and teachers. They faced what we lay our heads on our pillows at night and pray we never have to face; a madman with a gun.
In the wake of that attack, people want answers, and we want them now. How do we keep parents from having to plan the funeral of their15-year-old? Or keep a 6th grader from watching his teacher bleed out while leaned against a door to keep the attacker from getting in? That’s the question we need answered, and one woman decided that she knew who to ask.
She didn’t ask a friend or a preacher and she certainly didn’t as a politician. She wanted to hear from the king of common sense on how he thinks we should solve the issue of violence in schools. She asked Mike Rowe, and we’re glad she did. Here’s what he had to say in response to the Parkland shooting and Susan Collins’ question:
“Dear Mike. Where have you been? Your words are needed…”
Susan Collins
Hi Susan
Sorry I’ve been so scarce. I guess I could blame a chaotic production schedule, but the truth is, I’ve been absent because I don’t know what to say in the wake of Florida.
Like most of you, I’m overwhelmed with pity for the victims and their families, but consumed with anger for the coward who chose to murder. Rage and sorrow are hard things to reconcile, and the more such things occur, the more apparent it becomes that there is nothing new to say. So forgive me Susan, if I repeat what I said after Vegas and San Bernardino.
Evil is real. As long as humans have walked the earth, people have chosen to do evil things. This is what happened in Florida. A nineteen-year-old man chose to do an evil thing. He planned it. He executed it. He succeeded.
Should we endeavor to know why? Absolutely.
Should we discuss the impact of video games, accessible firearms, single-parents, no parents, powerful medications, social media, mental illness, bullying, or anything else we think might have encouraged him to choose evil over good? Without question.
But we should also stop confusing the influence of such things, with the root cause. Because nothing in this man’s past can possibly explain his decision to kill seventeen people. If you believe otherwise, ask yourself why millions of other people with a similar past, don’t make similar choices.
The past does not equal the future.
This is the most comforting thing I can tell you, Susan. It’s also the most disconcerting. Because the facts are undeniable. People from horrible backgrounds often become the epitome of kindness. And people with every imaginable advantage, often go on to squander everything.
The past does not equal the future.
To the families of the victims I can only offer my sincerest condolences, along with my heartfelt wish that the man who killed their loved ones is removed from the planet with all due speed.
As for words, I can only repeat what others have said, and ask you to remember those who confronted evil with courage. People like Aaron Feis, the football coach who threw himself in front of the kids the killer was trying to murder.
Beyond that, I’m afraid I can offer nothing but my weekly attempt to prove that goodness also walks among us, just as surely as evil. In numbers far greater than our newsfeeds would lead us to believe.
Mike”
What can any of us really say after something like this? Some people have jobs to do, and maybe they can help. As much as we love to hate our lawmakers, it is their job to figure out what can be changed, but the government is just one of the institutions that are supposed to help nurture a kid and help them turn into a well-adjusted adult.
The first institution ever created was the family. If we can have strong families that stick together and teach a child what love and compassion and right and wrong are, that sure would go a long way. The second institution is the church, and as hard as many of them try, they are only as good as the people willing to work and give their time and energy to reaching out to the community. Government is the last and final line of defense to intervene when a person can’t be reached by any other means.
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