Sunday, August 2, 2009

Extremism Kills


Extremism Kills

Extremism kills

Two stories today really caught my eye. One was about a shooting in Tel Aviv where a shooter walked into a night club frequented by gays and opened fire. He killed two people and injured twelve others. Police have yet to catch the gunman who ran out of the club and into the night. The other story is about a father and mother in Wisconsin who prayed while their 11-year-old daughter died. The father, Dale Neumann (pictured) said he believed until the end that God would heal his daughter. It took the jury two days to reach a verdict in his case. His wife was found guilty earlier and both will be sentenced on the same day.

Extreme ideas bring on extreme actions. In the first story someone planned to walk into that club and shoot those people for no other reason than they were gay. He had to plan, he had to gather ammunition, and he had to go to the club and execute his plan. In the other case, two parents sat by and watched their flesh and blood die because of their of their belief in faith healing. This child suffered because they did not have the ability to use the common sense that GOD gave them and take the child to the doctor.

What kind of demented mind watches their child die? What kind of person can walk into a bar and shoot and kill people randomly because he doesn’t agree with their lifestyle? Extremism is dangerous and many of those who hold extreme ideas are powder kegs ready to explode. Yet, media outlets like Fox News and pundits such as Bill O’Reilly fuel their fires with rhetoric that is aimed specifically at them.

My concern, however, is those good people on the right who listen to this rhetoric and pass it own. They may not be extremist, but they support them by not standing up to those whose rhetoric is dangerous. They are no better than the organizations that support terrorist cells financially, but claim no responsibility when it comes to the destruction they cause. Spouting rhetoric that causes the modern day stoning of gays or that causes those who may be mentally unstable to allow their 11-year-old daughter to die is a crime. Those who use the rhetoric understand that they are protected by the first amendment. However, should they be?

Extremism is a killer. Intelligent people should be able to see that extreme ideas are destructive and cause those with extreme behavior to act. America needs to stop the rhetoric and get rid of extremism in any form

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