This Wednesday, March 30, 2011 marks the 30th anniversary of the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. This makes me wonder what the motivation behind murder is. How can a person justify murdering someone else?
Popular belief is that you need a killer instinct to get ahead in life, and I believe that's true. However, the truth is that killing—literal killing—is a natural act (to satiate hunger or eliminate a threat), but murder is never an option for a rational man. Modern man has become desensitized to the horror that is murder because it's so prevalent in daily life.
And stop right there if you think I'm about to get on a soapbox telling you how violent video games or explicit television programs and movies are ruining our youth. And I'm sure as hell not going to say that all this music that the young folk listen to today glorifies deviant behavior like I'm C. DeLores Tucker or something. Plenty people listen to heavy metal, Hip-Hop, country (Yes, there is country music full of hate), and industrial as well as other music with hardcore messages without turning into killing machines.
By desensitization, I mean that seeing the taking of human life by other humans is so widespread that many of us have come to think about murder as more of an unfortunate occurrence rather than the abhorrent act it truly is. Remember the newscaster's motto: "If it bleeds, it leads. And if it don't bleed, stab it."
Don't forget that the purpose of all life in nature is to procreate and proliferate. You know, be fruitful and multiply. So it doesn't make sense to kill one of your own group.
If you really look at it, it's as disturbing and makes as little sense for a human to kill another human as for a human to eat another human. Is it sinking in now? Think about it. Do you see lions eating other lions? It's an unnatural act!
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