bang! bang! you're dead!

So Saturday I went to see the Wizard Yarmuth in a play called, "bang! bang! you're dead!" It's about a school shooting. 5 kids die in the shooting and the killer shoots his parents too. It was a very powerful play. It explored all the different excuses that people give for why kids turn on their peers and then come to the right conclusion...no matter what, it's still that person's fault. They are to blame. It was their choice in the end to do what they did. Yet, at the same time, I can see how things in our society need to change in order to prevent this. For example, this is probably as liberal as I get, but I have a real issue with violent movies. If it's "Saving Private Ryan" or "The Passion of the Christ" I have no problem with it. Those movies accurately reflect what happened in history. What I have an issue with is movies like "Saw" and "Hostel". No, I haven't seen these movies, but I've heard about them. I am greatly confused by Christians who claim to hold life as extremely valuable and then watch humans being mutilated for entertainment. People in Uganda are getting their limbs cut off. I read recently of a young girl in the Middle East who was given away in marriage at the age of 3. Since she was too young to consummate the marriage, she was basically a slave. Her "husband" threw boiling water on her. Used her back as a table, cutting into her back as he cut his meat. Made her sleep outside in the cold without a blanket. We find this sickening. So why watch a movie about it? Why not watch a movie that will make us laugh or think? We are desensitized to violence, to human suffering. When I watched the Two Towers for the first time, during a scene where Gollum was crying out in pain, people were laughing left and right. Pain is funny? The second main thing that needs to change is how we raise our kids/the school system. Children need to learn to respect others and their feelings. Some people are sensitive. You never know someone's background. While we should not walk on eggshells around everyone (or teach our children too) we should (and teach our children) to genuinely care about others and their welfare and to edify and encourage as much as possible. I mean, joking around, sarcasm etc is ok with friends. You know where they are and what you can say without hurting them, but to use such indiscriminately is wrong. And especially with friends, encouragement, compliments etc should be a big part of the package! Also, our schools need to crack down on bullies. Some schools are going too far. For example, in a school in Indiana the kids are not allowed to say such words as gun, knife, bang or boom. That's ridiculous. I asked a girl who goes to school there how the heck they talked about history!!! But when children are in fear of going to school because they are being beaten and threatened, that's ridiculous too. I believe that schools should slacken up with the dumbness and start getting real about building kids up and protecting them
So all that said, didn't really mean for this to turn into this but hey, why not, it's my blog!
But dear Wizard Yarmuth, you and your drama crew did amazing! It was an honor and a joy to see you perform. Keep up the good work!