Amber wrote:As soon as I'd heard that the VA Tech shooter had killed himself, I thought "the finger-pointing will probably start immediately, since the only person to truly blame is dead."
The resulting media circus continues to blow my mind.
I would like to see a tie between perceived empathy and reliance on religion as well. Some of the most hypocritical people I've ever met have an unusually strong relationship with this dude who has the initials of "J.C."
That could be a whole different ball of wax, though.
I think you're absolutely right! Just look at what's happening in the Muslim world. Muslims are taught that Allah is mercy, in fact I quote :
"Allah The all-Merciful, The Mercy-Giving, The King, The Holy, The Source of Peace, The Guardian of Faith, The Protector..."
and yet, it's OK to go blow up a bunch of people you don't like??? In fact, you do this, and you'll find yourself in heaven, with 72 virgins!!
Ibn Kathir (died 1373 CE ) in his Koranic commentary (Tafsir) of Surah Al-Rahman (55), verse 72: "The Prophet Muhammad was heard saying: 'The smallest reward for the people of paradise is an abode where there are 80,000 servants and 72 wives, over which stands a dome decorated with pearls, aquamarine, and ruby, as wide as the distance from Al-Jabiyyah [a Damascus suburb] to Sana'a [Yemen]'."
for an interesting article on the subject, see:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Stor … 57,00.html
Myself, I simply don't understand religious fanatics... Of course religious frenzy is not limited to Muslims, and certainly many many muslims are NOT fanatic, but I really don't know of other religions producing suicide bombers. Not that you don't have fanatics of all faiths... anyway, I really don't want to get into a big religious debate, SO
back to what Jodo was talking about, I think Amber is absolutely correct. The guy who did all the killing was an evil bastard, he deserved to die, and now that he's dead there's no one to punish, so people are looking for a scapegoat. As far as I know, the gunshop owner did nothing wrong, and does not deserve any blame.
'tis sad....
-avatar!