"We have lost our ambition, our imagination, and our willingness to do the things that built the Golden Gate Bridge" - Barack Obama (aka President Malaise)
Pitch in with the Prince William Young Republicans and help defeat Obama in 2012!
Towards Paradise Regained
By Greg L | 20 April 2007 | Crime | 3 Comments
This Richmond Times-Dispatch column by Delegate Scott Lingamfelter captures not only the pain we feel as we mourn, but the hope that in the wake of such evil, we can find the good:
In his 1667 epic poem “Paradise Lost,” 17th-century English poet John Milton interprets the Judeo-Christian story of the fall of man. Milton wrote about the temptation of Adam and Eve by Lucifer and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden, and tried to assess the meaning of that and much more. We have experienced our own “Paradise Lost” in recent days as a great institution was violated by a murderer.
It’s not supposed to be this way. We don’t send our kids away to college to see them murdered in cold blood. But the families of the students, professors, and staff of Virginia Tech who were shot by a self-absorbed psychopath endured just that. And what was worse, the killer was an enemy from within, dwelling with his victims, using the idyllic setting of a superb university to plot the killings of classmates and mentors. The notion is sickening. Virginia and the nation weep for Virginia Tech. We are all Hokies this day.
Inevitably, we will debate what should have been done. We can only hope for a thoughtful respite so families can mourn their loved ones without CNN jamming a microphone in their face to speculate on all of the possible “what-should-haves.”
Meanwhile, we are all left in various moods that cover the classic grieving spectrum: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and in time — maybe a long time — acceptance. But I have been left wondering, like many people, acceptance of what?
ACCEPTANCE that things like this just happen in a free society? Acceptance that in time we’ll all recover and continue to live out our lives? Acceptance that those in authority will identify cogent lessons to be learned and apply them to policies and procedures designed to prevent such acts in the future? Acceptance of a culture where violence, sexual mores, and virtue have strayed so far from the norm that incidents like this are viewed as inevitable? So what should we do?
Some will argue it’s all about public policy. It’s not. Some will say it’s all about morals. Wrong again. It’s about being a society worthy of self-governance. “Worthy of self governance?” you ask. Aren’t we all “worthy of self-governance” by virtue of our Constitution and the freedoms guaranteed to us in that document? Literally, we are. Practically, we are not.
Consider the view of our Founding Fathers. To be worthy of self-governance, citizens require education and a commitment to virtue. Thomas Jefferson got it right when he said, “If a Nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”
That is why Jefferson and others were committed to the idea of education. They knew that a society aware of its history would be equally aware of its purpose and future. They knew that a society educated in the classic arts and literature would be a society enabled to create beauty, not ugliness and vile images. And of virtue, they knew that a society mindful of its godly roots would be one that tended toward good works, justice, order, and yes, compassion for those who are less fortunate. They also understood that faith in God and a commitment to family was the sure path to the development of responsible citizens and sustained freedom.
IT’S IRONIC — sadly so — that this violence befell a place so hallowed and committed to both education and virtue, a university campus. Which makes it all the more important that we recommit ourselves to those very values. We should ask ourselves what people 100 years from now will say of us as we wrestled with this tragedy. Will they note that we passed more laws and resolutions that were little more than a thin veil of comfort? Or will they say this event marked the beginning an American cultural renaissance?
We can only hope that the “Paradise Lost” on April 16, 2007, will be renewed by the determination of a free people to return to the kind of thinking and behavior that befits America. That’s my prayer and hope. And I have faith that the young students of Virginia Tech will be of the generation that takes us there.
The opinions expressed here are solely the views of the author, and not representative of the position of any organization, political party, doughnut shop, knitting guild, or waste recycling facility, but may be correctly attributed to the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy. If anything in the above article has offended you, please click here to receive an immediate apology.
You can follow the discussion through the Comments feed.
3 Comments
Views: 754
Loading ...
Having a son at VT who was walking near Norris Hall and heard the shooting I am somewhat at a loss what to say. He knew the Air Force cadet who was murdered and has had classes in that building before.
Needless to say he is a bit shook up and says he would feel guilty about not taking the option of not taking his finals because he feels that that would be taking advantage of what had happened.
With all the second guessing and investigation into the murderer’s background how can one not believe that there is such a thing as good and evil?
Bill Bennett was on Hannity last night and made a very good point about this obsession with the videotape and rantings of the murderer. He said that if all we do is obsess about him we will only fall deeper and deeper into the darkness. Rather, we need to emphasize the professors who tried to save their students; the Eagle Scout who was able to keep his wits about him and save his own life by putting a tourniquet on his leg; the other students who placed tables against the doors to keep him out and all the others.
But one other scary thing to consider, on Fox this morning there was a discussion about whether or not NBC should have shown the tape and pictures. Bernie Goldberg, as a seasoned news man said the networks did it, not just as a matter of news, but because they knew people wanted to see it. But the other person there, a journalism student from UVA asked rhetorically, “Was it right to show the material?
“Well,” he said (and I’m paraphrasing), “that’s hard to say because whether or not it was right is a PERSONAL OPINION”.
Scary.
It didn’t occur to me that showing the videotape was wrong. People wanted to know why the shooter did it. Some speculated that he did it because of political views or whatever.
The videotape, which I have not seen, communicated information which was relevant to understanding the tragedy.
Nice piece, but empty of any actual substance. I really like Del. Lingamfelter and respect what he has to say. But what he is trying to say makes little since in this situation.
If education alone is the key to helping our society avoid these horrendous acts then why was it perputrated by someone who was obviously educated enough to have gain acceptance to one of Virgnia’s premier universities? Who has a sister who attend(ed) Princeton University? Who had parents who recongized the inadaquecies of thier native land to seek a better life in the United States, where one of their reasons were the educational opportunities for their children to have a better life?
I hope we recongize and those who we have elected to lead us recongize where they need to be educated. They need to gain a clear understanding of how this young man was able to make it through society, gain acceptance to VT all while having a mental illness and yet still turn into a murderous creep.
Preach all of the Shakespeare, DeVinci and Aristotle you want, but if we bury our heads in the sand in the face of the lessons Cho Sueng-Hui is trying to teach us our great society is sure to see these acts of this nature to continue to occur. If we do not seek improvements to how we deal with mental health in this state and country we are sure to see this happen again.
Del. Lingamfelter take this as an opportunity to educate yourself, your colleaugues and the state on how Virginia is going to become a leader in mental health and how we are going to avoid producing another Cho Sueng-Hui.