Angels or Heroes

On January 8, 2011, 22 year old Jared Lee Loughner, shot 19 people, killing 6, at the Casas Adobes Safeway supermarket parking lot just north of Tucson, Arizona. I have to say that when I listened to the people after the catastrophe, I wondered why they did not feel they were heroes, so I gave it some thought.

I think a hero is a brave person taught to act with or without fear. Firemen, policemen and soldiers are heroes. An angel, I believe, is a creature of exceptional goodness, the lowest level in the celestial hierarchy. My conclusion is that the Tucson people, although afraid, took action anyway. Therefore, I agree with them and say that they are angels and not heroes. I believe the same can be said for animals that come to the rescue of a person or other living creature. We had many heroes and angels on September 11, 2001. 

It’s being said that the Vagus Nerve shows we’re hardwired for compassion. This supports my belief that the majority of people are born angels. Some recent examples are: Pastor Bob Caldwell of the Arkansas Havana Assembly of God church who spends $700 a month and travels around the state everyday begging for food from businesses (he gathers 250,000 pounds of food a year to feed 700 people), Liz Scarpinato of the Kitchen of the Streets in Phoenix and San Antonio (16,000 meals per month for school children to take home), Wisconsin’s 13 year old Peyton Medick and her volunteers (collected 20 tons of food in 5 years) and as of August 30, 2011 ABC’s Hunger at Home campaign collected $188,000 which will provide 1.3 million meals for children. Good goes on everyday and everywhere in this country. This leads me to believe that the majority of us are born with a good sense of responsibility toward morality (ethics/goodness).

If we are hardwired for compassion then, in my opinion hate is learned or a behavior resulting from bad choices such as the use of drugs or alcohol or a bad experience. Unfortunately, because of the laws and actions that are condoned or excused, I believe a good person’s sense of direction can be discouraged. I think that all the confusion in our lives has caused it to be easier for gang members, thieves, drug pushers, etc. to tempt people as well as allowed greed to overcome compassion in some others.

We all need to have the courage to follow our hearts and not be swayed by the temptations of evil or the fear provoked. We have lowered our standards to say people needing an attitude adjustment have a mental illness instead of dealing with the real problem. I also have a problem with the term “mental illness” being used to describe Jared Loughner. This crazed drugged man killing innocent people is a demon. I believe that addicts are those not happy with themselves and are unable to get strength from within so they turn to artificial means for self gratification or highs. On November 8, 2011 it was reported that heavy use of methamphetamines is linked to schizophrenia. Loughner was privileged to go to school and considered such a privilege ‘hell’ because he was expected to perform and was dissatisfied with getting a ‘B’ instead of a higher grade. He made the decision to use illegal drugs to circumvent reality and perhaps his choice not to use his legal drugs to keep his situation in control. He needs to reap the consequences of his decisions. This same logic applies to the (unemployed Army veteran) drug dealer or user who murdered 4 people in an attempt to rob a New York (NY) pharmacy because he wanted the Oxycodone. These people planned their actions whether or not they intended to murder. These crimes are on the rise; we have young people who would rather steal then get a job and many have become violent.

Poor social behavior or isolation should also not be excused as a mental illness or a license to murder, maim, rape, and commit other violent crimes. Buddhists, the Dali Lama, hermits, the Chinese who focus on education and not social activity and others do not go around killing or abusing one another. And there are 68 tribes in the Brazilian Amazon living like their ancestors, untouched by modern conveniences. They don’t like the disease and violence brought by outsiders and don’t go around harming one another because of their isolation.

The media coverage of the Arizona and all other such tragedies normally provides more attention to the demons that cause a tragedy than the angels, victims and survivors; I believe the media did better than usual to see that coverage did give their stories and that Loughner is out of the limelight.