CT School shooting

[Fargood]

It's like they're glorying in it. What if the tragedies of CT and VA tech had happened to a Christian school or college, or to a home school group? What would they be saying then? I can guarantee they'd be blaming the devil for it. But when it happens to "other" people at a public school, then of course it was "God's plan."

Interesting that many of the religious folks are ducking the issue that the shooter was indeed homeschooled for a while.

[michelle_notduggar]

I tell you, there's nothing like the slaughter of 20 six-year-olds to bring out the ugliness in some religious people.

:evil:

What do you think they'd have to say about the Amish community that had a school shooting a few years back? If it can happen to godly folk like them, surely, some of these religious people would admit that it has nothing to do with religion and can happen to anyone. Maybe I'm asking for too much logic. :D

[Minerva]

I'm really disturbed by the amount of people I know who are reposting this as their Facebook status. It's really unsettling.

Ugh. I get that people think they're in a really nice place. Heck, I like to think they're in a really nice place. But how do so many people not understand that harping on about it trivializes people's grief and is disrespectful to the families who don't share their beliefs about heaven? Even throwing an "at least they're in a better place" into a tirade about how horrible the shooting was seems inappropriate, let alone when people act like it's the most important thing about this tragedy.

[emmiedahl]

I don't know if anyone has posted this, but the emmiedahlets and I are doing 26 random acts of kindness in honor of the victims of this shooting.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/26-rando ... f-kindness

I think it is a nice way to remember the people who deserve to be remembered and to move on a bit. I have been having increased anxiety attacks and crying spells over this and cannot seem to move forward. I think focusing on positive things will help. Also, tikkun olam.

[mystikchick17]

Bumping this thread to say that my colleague stopped by my desk first thing this morning. Her twin stepkids are okay--for now. They were in a part of the school in which they weren't made aware of anything that had gone wrong until the police came to escort them out.

They're aware that their principal has died, but know nothing else so far. One of the two little boys who was just buried was her stepdaughter's little "boyfriend," and now the family is struggling to find a way to tell the children what happened. How the hell do you explain this to a six-year-old?

Most of the Newtown kids are back to school today, but the Sandy Hook Elementary kids are returning after the new year, and to a different school building in a nearby town. I misheard some news that said that the Sandy Hook kids would be back to school today, which I figured must be impossible, considering the fact that the school is a major crime scene.

Oh thank goodness, but how sad :( I hope they find a way to explain to the kids, but really, how do you explain something like that?

[Witsec7]

I don't know if anyone has posted this, but the emmiedahlets and I are doing 26 random acts of kindness in honor of the victims of this shooting.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/26-rando ... f-kindness

I think it is a nice way to remember the people who deserve to be remembered and to move on a bit. I have been having increased anxiety attacks and crying spells over this and cannot seem to move forward. I think focusing on positive things will help. Also, tikkun olam.

This is a great link and I'm starting first thing tomorrow morning. Thank you for posting it. I'll be sure to pass it on.

[AuntCloud]

I don't know if anyone has posted this, but the emmiedahlets and I are doing 26 random acts of kindness in honor of the victims of this shooting.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/26-rando ... f-kindness

I think it is a nice way to remember the people who deserve to be remembered and to move on a bit. I have been having increased anxiety attacks and crying spells over this and cannot seem to move forward. I think focusing on positive things will help. Also, tikkun olam.

I am very consciously trying to do random acts of kindness. Not sure if my tikkun will cover even a tiny particle of the olam, but I'm trying.

Someone was cutting 20 lbs of onions at the school concert today. The kindies and the first graders went on stage, all dressed up in little party dresses and shirts-and-ties. I held it up beautifully for about 30 seconds, then bawled my eyes out throughout "Frosty the Snowman" and "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas". Then I looked at the teachers, knowing that they will take a bullet for these little people, and bawled some more.

[Artemis]

Thanks for posting this. I'll be doing it too.

[stacyf]

Yesterday I was in Newtown to drop something off at my aunt's place and I went through a local Dunkin' Donuts drive through and told the cashier to take my change, about $18 and apply to the next customers in line and so on. She said that tere was almost $200 ahead of me and that mine was paid for so I said take my $20 and add it in. D & D is a bit of an obsession around here and I am sure all the folks in the area appreciate the generous souls that got there before I did. I was also told that there are 1000 free slices of pizza at a local pizza parlor paid for with an out of state CC. The "We Are Newtown" FB page has many of these stories.

[Rowan]

I saw the #26 Acts of Kindness last night and I already have a few planned. It's a great idea.

[contrary]

I love this 26 acts idea, and that story about DD and pizza gave me shivers. thank you all for bringing stuff like this to my attention. I've not been able to watch television, and I quickly skim articles because I still feel unable to read names, ages, or see photos.

Do forgive if this has already been posted in one of the related threads, but another fb friend drew my attention to this today, and it's wonderful:

An Open Letter from a PTA Mom to Mike Huckabee: A Message for Those Who Long for God’s Presence in Schools:

educatefortexas.wordpress.com/2012/12/17/an-open-letter-from-a-pta-mom-to-mike-huckabee-a-message-for-those-who-long-for-gods-presence-in-schools/

[NjoyingNsanity]

Yesterday I was in Newtown to drop something off at my aunt's place and I went through a local Dunkin' Donuts drive through and told the cashier to take my change, about $18 and apply to the next customers in line and so on. She said that tere was almost $200 ahead of me and that mine was paid for so I said take my $20 and add it in. D & D is a bit of an obsession around here and I am sure all the folks in the area appreciate the generous souls that got there before I did. I was also told that there are 1000 free slices of pizza at a local pizza parlor paid for with an out of state CC. The "We Are Newtown" FB page has many of these stories.

I'm from one of the outlying counties that surround Blacksburg Virginia and I can well remember the media circus that surrounded Virginia Tech after the shooting there. While not directly affected by the shooting I had plenty of former classmates with younger siblings or cousins who attended Tech and a pastor who did allot of volunteer work in our town worked at Virginia Tech at the time and was one of the first clergymen on the scene he spent much of the days immediatelyl following the tragedy talking with survivors and those that had lost someone. Weeks passed and he and a few others I knew with a connection to Tech became depressed some even showed signs of PTSD. I want to do something for the clergy, teachers and first responders of Sandy Hook, but I want to wait until the media circus leaves to remind them that the world hasn't moved on and forgotten their tragedy. I was thinking about sending cards just to say you're still in our thoughts does this sound like a good idea and something maybe FJer's would want to do as a group?

[BoomerLynn]

I don't know if anyone has posted this, but the emmiedahlets and I are doing 26 random acts of kindness in honor of the victims of this shooting.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/26-rando ... f-kindness

I think it is a nice way to remember the people who deserve to be remembered and to move on a bit. I have been having increased anxiety attacks and crying spells over this and cannot seem to move forward. I think focusing on positive things will help. Also, tikkun olam.

I love this idea. Some of the suggestions and photos had me in tears.

[Jinger Jar]

The NPR Morning Edition segment I listened to this morning mentioned that the CT state medical examiner will look for physical explanations for the shooter's behavior. Twice the reporter referred to "the shooter" and not once was his name mentioned.

Good on NPR.

[2xx1xy1JD]

Unfortunately, this is not from The Onion:

Huckabee Blames ‘Tax-Funded Abortion Pills’ For Newtown Massacre

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/12 ... -massacre/

That's beyond obnoxious.

I also have to reject the whole "this is what secular society has become" line that I hear. Open your eyes and look at the news. "Society" is deeply mourning these children, and the gunman was clearly not representing societal values.

I don't think that it's ever wrong to promote goodness. I just think that it's so premature for anyone, regardless of their cause, to be able to say that this could have been avoided if only we had done X, Y or Z, because we still don't have a good idea of what triggered the killer.

[Antigone]

good on NPR. The less the name is mentioned, the better. And shut up, Huckabee.

Our school had early release that day, and all of the parents had just heard about the shooting. We all hugged our children furiously, and the pickup went on a bit longer than usual, but no one minded.

I am very grateful for my daughter's teacher, and I've always volunteered in her class, but now after Newtown, it makes me feel a urge to partipicate more and help those wonderful teachers at her school.

[Turtle]

I don't know if anyone has posted this, but the emmiedahlets and I are doing 26 random acts of kindness in honor of the victims of this shooting.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/26-rando ... f-kindness

I think it is a nice way to remember the people who deserve to be remembered and to move on a bit. I have been having increased anxiety attacks and crying spells over this and cannot seem to move forward. I think focusing on positive things will help. Also, tikkun olam.

My cousin was at the doctor this morning and, when she was scheduling her next appointment, the nurse gave her a little card with $20 paper clipped to it. She said someone who came in earlier left 26 of them with her and asked that she give one to the next 26 people that came in without insurance. The card said, "In loving memory of 26 beautiful souls...Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that".

[EyeQueue]

Some more right-wing nutjobs blaming this on teh wimminz:

theeconomiccollapseblog (dot) com/archives/22-stats-that-prove-that-there-is-something-seriously-wrong-with-young-men-in-america

(Sorry for the inelegant link-breaking--still new to posting here, and learning).

Some of the comments on this entry are truly sickening, and of course blame all of society's ills on the evil feminists. One of the main focuses of discussion seems to be that if these evil sluts would just keep their damned legs closed (or submit to a proper male-driven household), everything would be fine and we could go back to the good old days (which, as demonstrated in another recent thread, were never as good as these asshats try to portray them).

The blog is basically one that hypes people up with fear about an impending economic collapse (of course--Obama's fault!!1111) for which they'll have to get their preps and guns in order. So, if any of the reported rumors about the shooter's mother are true, this blog promotes the same type of fear that might have prompted her to load up on guns in preparation for society's collapse. :(

ETA: Moderators--if this belongs elsewhere, please feel free to move. I wasn't sure where it would best fit, and I can't start new threads yet. :)

[Austin]

It's fine here, eyequeue :-)

[Coconut Flan]

Help with the link. If you take off the http://www. part, that's all you have to do.

theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/22-stats-that-prove-that-there-is-something-seriously-wrong-with-young-men-in-america

That way other people do not have to do more than copy the link without having to edit it. :)

[EyeQueue]

Thanks for the tip, Abigail! :D