Recently I have noticed a disturbing trend occurring in our society, the growing number of murder-suicides. It has been a while since my last post and I know that it may seem morbid to come back touching on this point but it is a subject that I feel needs to be addressed. What is our world coming to? The more I watch, read or listen to the news, the more depressed I get; every other story is about someone who felt compelled to take the life of another and then turn the gun, knife or whatever weapon they possessed on themselves.
Just recently, a man in Pittsburgh by the name of George Sodini decided that his life was so miserable because he could not find a woman. So, he decides to execute his "exit plan; a plan that consists of him going into a LA Fitness where he works-out and going ballistic, shooting up an exercise class full of women, killing three of the women before shooting and killing himself. Then there is the case of Christine Johnson Tyler and Gardell Tyler, a couple that had been married for 30 years but because of domestic abuse (the husband being the abuser) had become estranged. I guess Gardell just could not live without his wife so he decided that they would be together for eternity. He stopped by her house where she lived with their children and shot her several times, killing her and then killing himself with their children present in the house at the time. Well, I guess reality could not get any realer with the very publicized case of reality TV contestant Ryan Alexander Jenkins and his swimsuit model wife, Jasmine Fiore. Mr. Celebrity Wannabe brutally mutilated his wife, cutting off her fingers and pulling her teeth out then stuffing her body in a suitcase and throwing it away in a trash dumpster in Buena Park, California. He was later found dead in Canada from an apparent suicide by hanging.
So, I don't get it. What moves a person to do this? Is it spite? jealousy? envy? desperation? What drives a person to commit the ultimate crime and the ultimate sin (if you're a religious buff)? Now I don't want to sound non-sympathetic or cruel because, obviously, people who commit these crimes (crimes of passion I guess you'd call them) obviously have some serious issues and should seek psychological help. Honestly, though, when you hear about cases such as the ones above, you rarely hear that the person sought help for their mental distress prior to the act. For some unknown reason they just keep living life like it's normal for them to feel such angst, pain, disgust, anger...whatever it is that their feeling until their inner bomb detonates and the result is destruction of innocent, human life.
You know what?!? It really pisses me off! Mental/emotional distress or not, don't let yourself get to the point where you can no longer control your emotions or your actions. I believe that most people who commit crimes such as these are not completely mentally incapacitated; there is still some amount of sanity, clarity and morality that exist within them. Unless you are just completely out of your mind to the point where you don't even know your own name, there is something inside you, that if you listen closely enough, it will tell you that what you are thinking or doing is wrong when it comes to hurting another human being. The sad part is that most people don't stop to listen to the rational thoughts going through their heads, especially in heated moments when the anger is mounted and all they can do is act out. I have found though, like in the case of George Sodini, that some of these acts are premeditated, done with malice aforethought. So, if a person is lucid enough to think and plan through his/her attack, can you not honestly say that the possibility exists that they could have stopped themselves from committing the act? And, if there is a moment of "clarity" isn't it then pure selfishness that motivates them to go through with the devastating act regardless?
There is nothing wrong with seeking psychological help when your mental faculties are in disarray. It is so sad to know that there are individuals who refuse to get help when they know they need it. What's sadder is the fact that innocent people become victim to this and die because of other's selfishness and total disregard for human life. Let's be real, these acts are selfish because it is completely about soothing some inner demons that haunt the person committing them. These people don't really care about their victims because if they did they would not kill them.
So, I am about to say something that I know will sound really harsh and I am sure it is a reflection of my disgust for people who commit these heinous acts. I know there will be some who read this and become angry by my words but I am only stating my opinion. If someone is having inappropriate thoughts; thoughts that are irrational and regard harming another person, for whatever reason, they should seek psychological help to assist them with dealing with those feelings. If they refuse to get that assistance and argue that it cannot help them, they should not take their insanity out on some innocent love one or bystander. These are their issues not someone else's and other's lives should not be destroyed because people can't deal with the humps and bumps of life. I am not an advocate for suicide, I don't condone it, but if someone has to die, the only life taken should be of the one who commits the act. Allow the innocent to go on to experience their lives and enjoy whatever time they have left on this earth. All I can say is that if it just has to come down to some sort of "cide" let it be suicide instead of homicide.
I would hope, though, for anyone reading this and contemplating the worse...let it go; do the best you can in life and just try to enjoy what you have. We don't get everything we want in life but what we are given we should enjoy and not destroy.
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