I was out all day and am just catching up on the news of the mass shooting in Orlando. So terribly sad.
I understand the current thinking is that the gunman was a “lone wolf,” born in the U.S. of Afghan parents, who talked about fighting for ISIL/Daesh but had no known ties to it. He’d been investigated by the FBI twice and wasn’t connected to any terrorist organization. He had legally bought guns in the past couple of weeks.
Meanwhile, a guy identified as James Howell of Indiana was detained in Los Angeles with a car full of guns and explosives, allegedly intending to use them at a Gay Pride event.
Meanwhile, all over social media, people are posting every video they can find of Bible-thumping preachers calling for gays to be put to death.
I live close to Orlando; we had a bit of a family reunion near Sarasota this weekend, so I woke up to the news from Orlando this morning. Several out of state friends have expressed concern that the attack was Islamic Terrorism. It looks more like the killer was a religious freak who lost it after observing two men making out while he was on a recent trip to Miami. Great. Now let’s do something about assault rifles and high capacity magazines. 50 dead and counting. It’s past time to do something to combat the gun fetish / violence.
Just read up on the shooter, here, he was a security guard and a real angry nut case. Article said his coworker, a retired cop, quit his job after being harassed by the shooter.
God, guns and ???? It’s Sunday, time to be a “good” Christian.
Why is it that I expect the NRA to start a campaign to sell ‘blue’ guns to the GLTS community, because the only thing that will stop a homophobe with a gun is a gay with a gun. Except they won’t use the word, ‘gay’, they will use a more vulgar three letter word that can’t use even in satire.
The proliferation of hate is the problem – but it can’t be regulated, so we must rise to the necessity of regulating the proliferation of guns. I’m fine about private ownership, but how about liability insurance, like with cars. Make all gun owners pay according to the risk and have insurance companies pay out to victim’s families. Let the free market forces impose regulation – the company with the lowest rates could be the one that does background checks which the government is prohibited from doing.
And over the long term, let’s do something about the hate.
Dump the religious tax exemption. I am sorry but it must go.
Our do-nothing Congress will repeal Obamacare 100 more times before they lift a finger to defang the world’s most deadly terrorist group, the NRA.
On the LGBT issue, in NC we are dealing with HB2, the omnibus pro-discrimination Bill the NCGA spewed out a few months ago. Public sentiment continues to be very against it, especially amongst the business community where companies are losing their shirts because of boycotts and people avoiding NC.
Last month, I was disgusted when a small group of black preachers went to Raleigh to show SUPPORT for the Bill. I guess they didn’t want other oppressed groups muscling in on their protected class status. So there they were, shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with the KKK. Reprehensible and disgusting.
Just wondering how many Bible thumping preachers are calling for gays to be put to death.
JDW — Probably not many. Why don’t you count them yourself? You can start with this guy.
One might begin to suspect that there’s a problem when it’s harder to go to a store and get an antihistamine, than it to go out and buy as many guns as you can afford!
So, if you have a runny nose, just go out, buy a gun, and blow your nose off!
Or, someone elses…
Also on the same day there was a family massacre. Husband killed wife and four daughters, and is still at large. News report overshadowed by the other massacre, and by the L.A. massacre prevented. We’re numb.
Being “on a mission from God†sure makes some people feel omnipotent. I just got kicked off a conservative religious blog for pointing out various holes in their arguments. And it was being done as politely and innocently as possible, with a “learn me” attitude. To them, it must’ve sounded like I was yelling “the pope is an asshole!†from a pew in their church. Only the Satan-possessed could possibly be so bold. Or a liberal – same thing.
So how does the word homophobic fit the behavior? A lot of people are afraid of snakes. Ophidiophobia is the name, I had to look it up. So how many ophidiophobics buy several guns, a lot of ammo, and drive miles to find a zoo with a snake exhibit just to act out their phobia? We need a better word or phrase.
Hatred is often driven by fear and you are not the first to note the inadequacy of the “-phobic” term in this instance. Misohomony or Homomisa might work as noun to replace homophobia with the more specific term for “hatred or revulsion”. Any linguists out there care to chime in?
If only those inebriated sinners had been armed, then they would have been Saved…
Or sumfin…
I think the real test of language, that is, language in a specific instance, is whether or not it communicates relevant information. Language rarely conveys information perfectly, if the information is beyond the complexity of a series of numbers, or some similar set of fixed data.
The term, “homophobia” might mean something different to all of us. But, in the general sense, we all know what it means. The word has grown beyond its literal definition, but there is no mystery about it. It’s the social context that we have trouble with. Unfortunately, at the moment, “homophobia” means fifty dead people and counting. It means lives cut short and others damaged. It means staring into the eyes of madness, unable to do anything about it.
I find it impossible to go on without lapsing into a stream of obscenity.
dmc thank you
‘Gulag – it’s decongestant that you need to show ID for. Antihistamines are still okay.
But there won’t be a run on decongestants just because a meth lab explodes – there *will* be a run on guns, most likely. Which is really both sick *and* (at this point) stupid.
Good old Sudafed, the drug of choice for commercial divers. It got me through many a tough ear clearing day, but I’d usually end up with a bloody nose.
Thank you, I stand corrected.
My God…
“U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Alabama) criticized a proposed amendment three weeks ago to a 2017 funding bill bill that would prohibit firearms sales to individuals listed on the federal terrorist watch list, saying it would be a superficial solution, at best,reported AL.com.”
The ban might sound reasonable, Aderholt said, “but like many liberal solutions, they are only skin deep.â€
“The reality is many people find themselves on the terrorist watch list by mistake,†the lawmaker said. “Something as simple as a mix up of a birth date can put someone on the list and the process to remove a name can take months or even years.â€
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/06/gop-lawmaker-halting-gun-sales-to-terrorists-solves-nothing-unlike-saying-radical-islam/
Some of this is just beholden to NRA money, but some of these people are just plain stupid. And yet this is what one of our two political parties produces. Worse still, we’ve got millions of voters who thinks this passes for common sense.
What’s really sad is WE KNOW nothing will be done. The public is being conditioned to treat these mass killings like destructive natural events — hurricanes, earthquakes and such.
Its just sad that as a nation we lake the collective decency to summon the moral outrage and courage to at least institute laws and procedures that are proven to work.
They say this is the worst mass shooting in our history. How long before even this becomes an after thought in the wake of the next disaster?
Any linguists out there care to chime in?
I think the term you’re looking for is called Beelzebub. I know the term seems a bit archaic and might have a tendency to cast the user of such a term as being somewhat of a closed minded individual who is a little bit off the wall.. But when you understand and appreciate the fullness and encompassing nature of the term it becomes the only word to satisfy all the conditions necessary in making sense of the senseless, and bridging the gap of understanding between entities where we sense a connection, yet cannot describe or explain in words how that connection is made.
I suppose it’s only right to cite an example what exactly what Beelzebub is so as to be better understood. That’s a difficult proposition because Beelzebub by its very nature defies exactness — it’s an amorphous term. But to give a rough idea consider the problem of determining whether the Orlando shooter’s motivation is the result of Islamic thought or common secular type homophobia. We know that homophobia can find sanctuary and nurture within religious thinking ( Islam or Christianity), but we can’t positively attribute homophobia to religious thinking. That’s where we use Beelzebub to define and understand that which normally can’t be understood.
I hope that cleared things up. To me it’s all perfectly clear, but conveying that clarity is a bit more difficult.
P.S…. Beelzebub is not to be viewed or understood as a synonym for Satan. Beelzebub is Beelzebub.
They say this is the worst mass shooting in our history.
I’d put aside the numbers and say Sandy Hook was the worst mass shooting in our history.
That was a gut wrenching tragedy, and the paralyzed response from our legislators increased the agony of that tragedy. If they couldn’t muster the willpower to push back against the NRA’s agenda then..I’m sure nothing is going to come of this latest tragedy.
Yep, the NRA is too big to tackle.
I definitely think that you’ve got something there, Swami. It seems archaic to talk about the nature of “evil,” unless you’re a Republican candidate or office holder, and then, only in general terms aimed at some adversary, that is already known and acknowledged by the brethren. We can all remember “Dubya” protecting us against “evil doers.” But, “Evil” itself is amorphous. It’s a shapeshifter that eludes us by by settling down in hidden places. But, we all know it when it shows itself.
The comparison between Sandy Hook and the mass murder in Orlando seems right on the mark to me. Despite the numbers, there was something particularly evil about the murders at Sandy Hook. If we try to imagine the mind of the murderer, it becomes clear that the state of mind is unimaginable. But, somehow, we all know it by the shiver and sickness in the stomach.
Sorry, I think I am still stuck in a medieval state of mind.
By the way, I followed the link that Maha left in the comments. The pastor of the Providence Road Baptist Church in Maiden, NC got “honorable mention” in the article. Maiden is spitting distance from our house. It’s a sweet little town, but, obviously one with some nasty tendencies.
Yeah, Sandy Hook.
It takes a special kind of evil to go out and kill 20 very young children, your own mother, and teachers and administrators.
By the way, best wishes to Doug. He’s going to report to prison today, where he’ll be for 4 months.
All for showing-up the know-nothing, do-nothing twits in Congress.
Yeah, goatherd. I miss those Dubya days when pursuing evil doers was all the rage. I felt like my life had direction and purpose.
My hat’s off to Doug. He’s probably the kind of guy who will find a way to do something worthwhile, even when he’s locked up. I hope there are some good volunteer opportunities for him.