Yet Another Mass Shooting

Runnin said:
So they are martyrs (lower case 'm'), and what good is that? It's an unspeakable tragedy, same as the one before the one after. You seem eager to use that term; why are they different from other innocent deaths?

I think throwing that word around is unnecessary. How many people were killed this week because of who they were and what they believed? Do they get to be martyrs? How about those people in the hospital in Afghanistan?

Here are two words I wish we could put in the proverbial grave: martyr and prophet.
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There's a good reason why we have that word - it indicates why the person was killed and what the person was willing to die for. Deleting the word from our vocabulary is a means to inoculate ourselves from the reality that some people are killed because others hate their faith. If you want to go down that road and flatten out all language - gut it of substance and helpful nuance - then drop the words "bigots, sexists, racists" and replace them with "haters."

This is a clear example of when to actually use the word.

I don't disagree with you though that it has been used in a bastardly way in too many other instances.
 
The Westboro freaks are planning to come to our town....guess we'll see what happens.
 
BedellBrave said:
There's a good reason why we have that word . . .
I don't disagree with you though that it has been used in a bastardly way in too many other instances.
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When people on both sides of the fence use that word for their fallen one has to take a step back. The more you use religious terminology the deeper in the quagmire you get.
 
Runnin said:
When people on both sides of the fence use that word for their fallen one has to take a step back. The more you use religious terminology the deeper in the quagmire you get.
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I can't help the abuses of the word - except insofar as I need to be careful in my own usage of it. But the word means something. it is valuable. And in this case it is highly appropriate.

To not use it is just a means to downplay that there are those who hate people of particular faiths so much so as to kill them.
 
Interesting article

Why is it that all the calls for new gun laws do nothing? National polling says we want gun control, but national will doesn't mean anything in the House of Reps. Members of the House only care about what their voters want. Liberals are clustered in cities and other areas where they already have a member of Congress who supports gun control. All those organizations urging you to "call your member of Congress" run up against this: chances are, if you are for gun control, your member of Congress already is for it, too. National petitions don't do anything. The only way short of a Constitutional re-design of the House is a massive turn out by liberals and a massive lack of turn out by conservatives happening at the same time, leading to a change in the majority in the House. I can't imagine a scenario where that would take place, short of a massive imploding of the Republican party.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/monica-bauer/the-real-reason-we-wont-g_b_8237842.html
 
Krgrecw said:
Because they don't want him to come and politicize the deaths of thier fellow townspeople.
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Obama isn't politicizing anything -- he'd like to pass some common sense laws on gun control, which the country desperately needs. The issue is already highly political thanks to the NRA's lobby.

Local government probably doesn't want to have to deal with the security circus that comes with the president. I wouldn't either in their place.
 
mossy said:
The Westboro freaks are planning to come to our town....guess we'll see what happens.
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I hope your townsfolk do a better job than my fellow Okies. They came here 4 or 5 years ago and only got a couple of slashed tires. Yet another time when I was ashamed of my state.
 
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Oklahomahawk said:
I hope your townsfolk do a better job than my fellow Okies. They came here 4 or 5 years ago and only got a couple of slashed tires. Yet another time when I was ashamed of my state.
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Honestly not sure what will happen. This is conservative country, and people are very passionate against WBC, liberals, etc.

Now POTUS will be here on Friday. I'm hoping people find it in themselves to be civil.
 
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