Originally Posted by Phil Hoskins
The most recent mass murder in the South Carolina church is receiving some comments that just are weird. The fundamental truth is that one person used apparently legal weapons to shoot and kill 9 defenseless humans.

That they were black humans is critical to an understanding of where this event fits into the American gestalt. it is tragic that he, from his own words, chose the victims based upon their race. The tragedy is that the color of one's skin or the location in which they were born is still so important to so many people.

The genesis of this traces to the fact that most of us barely recognize the humanity of other humans. Killing is at the extreme edge of this, but the day to day way in which we treat each other as objects and labels is a tragedy that transcends and causes tragedies such as this shooting.

I grew up in an unusual family. My mother's father was "black", the rest of my grandparents "white". It just did not occur to me that they were anything but my grandparents, with all the ups and downs and eccentricities that humans carry around.

I hope that religious leaders of all stripes and faiths begin to get serious about bringing us all together, bringing out the humanity in each of us, and bonding us together to help one another in every way.

It might be time for everyone to turn off your television, listen to your heart and not your head, find the connections among us and especially give up the right to hate anyone.

We are one living inside the illusion of being separate.
Bow

Contrarian, extraordinaire