Had a bad day
It was our intention to spend this weeks’ time together celebrating the contribution of another Native American woman to the history of this country in celebration of Women’s History Month.
But instead, we are rudely interrupted by the action of some sorry “peckerwood” who, with a gun and a sense of entitlement, committed mass murder in our area this past week.
As if that were not bad enough, a member of the law enforcement community appeared to be dismissive of the gravity of the crime, telling local media outlets that the mass murderer “was at the end of his rope” and that he “had a bad day.”
Whether this particular law enforcement officer was actually experiencing feelings of sympathy for this particular mass murderer, or whether he was just having a moment of mental vacuum, will probably be subject to debate for some time. It would be less of a debate were it not for the normalization of sexual and gender-based violence on the part of some members of the so-called establishment for some time. From preachers who rationalize and condone wife-beating to the so-called “honor killings” endemic in other parts of the world, these are some of the circumstances which make folks ask uncomfortable questions when a local cop seems to show sympathy for such an unsympathetic suspect.
When it comes to women of color, the situation is even worse. Some would argue that sex trafficking never received the attention that is deserved as long as there was the perception that it was a largely immigrant problem. The reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act faced a similar backlash back in 2013 when protections for Native American women were inserted into the act. Politicians who happily opposed violence women suddenly lost that commitment when Native American women were accorded the same protections. It is enough to make one wonder about the priorities of some people.
When I was a young man, it was an article of faith that a real man did not touch a woman in a violent manner. Ever. Under any circumstance. This was an article of faith for any good and decent man, or what in those days was called “A Gentleman.”
♦ There was no excuse for un-gentlemanly behavior in those days, at least not according to my Aunt Clara. Nowadays we have guys like this one Congressman who claims to be a good Christian gentleman one day and then calls a fellow member of Congress a “fuing bih on the steps of the capitol the next. Trashy indeed. And it trickles down, from mass shootings to so-called “Incels” who take out their frustrations on random women because they can’t get laid. It seems we have raised a generation of entitled little punks incapable of dealing with life’s ups and downs.
What is the world coming to? Sometimes I wonder. They say the suspect in this particular case stated that he has a “sex addiction,” what sort of self-centered delusion does it take to perpetrate mass murder because of one’s own short comings. This sort of entitled attitude is as troubling as it is dangerous. We all face an existential threat if we condone this sort of thing, in any way, and at any time. The very basis of civilized society is the expectation of a standard of behavior which must be enforced across the board for the safety of the whole of society. This what makes the perception of sympathy on the part of some people so problematic.
While it may be easy on the part of some to castigate Law Enforcement for misspeaking in a particular case, or for exercising Officer’s discretion in a particular case, we must remember that members of Law Enforcement are also members of the broader community. If we have a problem with the way our police enforce the laws our representatives enact, we must look in the mirror first because the police are but a reflection of all the virtues and vices, charity and prejudice, that exist in the broader community.
These times we live in are stressful, we struggle with myriad difficulties, but these times also present us with an opportunity to improve. To exercise charity and virtue, and most importantly to not make excuses for bad behavior.
Regardless of which political stripe spawns it. The future of civilization requires civility. When we exercise good manners and charity in our daily interactions, we help to secure our own future. And in the words of me Aunt Clara, “Always be a Gentleman,” even if you have “had a bad day.”