Superiority: Be wary of the dangers
by Mindy Boggs
The Huntsville Times
We cannot simply dismiss the recent Knoxville Unitarian church shooting with "There's another lunatic among us, and you just never know, so let's beef up security in the parking lot." No, we need to do much more than that. We need to examine "public opinion" and the people and institutions who "shape" that opinion.
You do not have to be "crazy," or the town lunatic, to commit murder, as this man did. You just have to believe strongly enough about something. When someone places all responsibility for society's ills (or their personal ills), as they define them, on a group of people who share a different ethnic background, religion, or political beliefs, one may come to hate this group so much, it triggers the desire to commit a crime and "sacrifice" oneself, along with the "guilty" ones.
Generalizing, stereotyping, blaming can lead to ideological fanaticism. When we hear it, read it, say it, we have the responsibility to check it. Love, tolerance and respect can be taught and modeled as much as blatant disregard of others, hatred and intolerance.
full article
The Huntsville Times
We cannot simply dismiss the recent Knoxville Unitarian church shooting with "There's another lunatic among us, and you just never know, so let's beef up security in the parking lot." No, we need to do much more than that. We need to examine "public opinion" and the people and institutions who "shape" that opinion.
You do not have to be "crazy," or the town lunatic, to commit murder, as this man did. You just have to believe strongly enough about something. When someone places all responsibility for society's ills (or their personal ills), as they define them, on a group of people who share a different ethnic background, religion, or political beliefs, one may come to hate this group so much, it triggers the desire to commit a crime and "sacrifice" oneself, along with the "guilty" ones.
Generalizing, stereotyping, blaming can lead to ideological fanaticism. When we hear it, read it, say it, we have the responsibility to check it. Love, tolerance and respect can be taught and modeled as much as blatant disregard of others, hatred and intolerance.
full article
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