I doubt we will need to donate though

I'm not saying we shouldn't donate

But compare the difference between a earthquake and a guy who kills people in school.

An earthquake kills over a million of people! Therefore donation is required.

A guy who kills people in school = Around 5-30 deaths

I came on to make a post about this, but I guess you beat me to it.

I only heard the news recently, but its terrible how someone can just walk into public and kill people. Murder is one thing, but most of the victims were little kids!

My heart goes out to the families of the victims.

Apparently there was a similar situation in China the same day, just an hour or two before. A man went into a school and stabbed 23 people (22 being children, the other being an elderly woman). The difference is that nobody died.

The fact that they both happened on the same day makes you feel like they're connected in one way or another.

I pity all of the victim's families in both tragedies, I'm sure this isn't what they wanted for Christmas.

The whole thing sickens me.

And I honestly don't see see how thenumberone or MegaRevolution's posts were off topic, they were direct to the issue in the first case, and addressing a demand made in the first post for the second. Donations can actually help the families pay for funeral costs, since those are actually quite expensive.

That is a side note.

There is a part of me that wonders if this has anything to do with the insane notion that the world is going to end next week. If it is tied to it, then I think I just lost the last bit of faith in humanity I had. The world is going insane.

And the media... oh that whole thing just annoys me. I heard so many different things being reported, then retracted, then new info, then it's retracted... all the while the officials had made no statements whatsoever. What ever happened to reporters verifying their sources before going on the air? Does journalistic integrity just not exist anymore?

I pray to the people and families. At least all the victims are in a better place now. Suicidal death was too good for him, I can forgive a lot for what people do, but if someone goes on a massacre, they deserve more. It's inhumane.

Elara : "integrity."
No.
Not in the big papers anyway, they are owned by people that care only about money. And the best way to get it? First off the mark with updates. Theyre like flies to a corpse *literaly not intended as a pun*.
I think only smaller papers would offer decent coverage, especialy the local ones. Its pretty sick how really, the papers love this kind of thing.
As for officials, I think they were actualy trying to get the facts sorted to ensure they didnt spread false information. Id hope the relatives were kept in the loot.
Its not strictly on topic, but talking of funeral costs, I think criminals should be accountable for those costs. Whatever assets he had should be used as a start to those costs. Since his mum probably left everything to him the house etc should be sold too.
More accountability is needed, its easy to assume the damage is limited to the event, but the parents, family and friends have to deal with the fallout the rest of there lifes.

Singelli : I know the feeling. I had a bit of a hard time yesterday myself. I ended up walking out of a room that had what was going on, on television because I almost started crying. It isn’t an easy thing for me to cry but I was real close yesterday. So senseless, I’ll never be able to understand why some people resort to things like that. Never. I pray for those families who lost loved ones yesterday. Senseless.

I'm sorry, but what's the topic? It seems like,.. when a religious person starts talking about "GOD this and GOD that and praying for souls" it's on topic...but when someone doesn't want to talk about God it's off topic? The fact that the shooter should have never had a gun is also off topic? What else is off topic? Besides your preferences, of course.

This is the NEWS section and a discussion on a shooting. If you want to stay on Topic, talk about the shooting instead of just quoting Bible verses and praying. There's a religious part of the boards for that.

This shooting should have never happened. The more we find out about the shooter, the more we find that his parents knew better and should have been far more cautious. Why did he have access to guns? Should teachers be armed? (No... but that's on topic). How can this be prevented in the future? WERE there warnings that went unnoticed? What's being done for the families? These are topics.

God doesn't need to be a part of this discussion.  This is not a religious thread or an anti-religious thread. I'm an atheist, but I'm not complaining about the people who went to a church after the shooting. They're not there looking for God, they're there looking for people they know, family members, and solidarity during a horrible time.

The topic is the shooting. Stick to the topic. We can debate religion in other posts.

Astynax27 :  Just because someone mentions God doesn't mean they are off topic.  Praying for the families is on topic.


Also, you can't claim to know what everyone went to church for.  You don't know them, don't talk to them, and don't hang out with them.  I'm sure there were plenty who went to seek God.  But whether they did or not has nothing to do with offering condolences and discussing the event.


Next time, please keep your spiteful words and personal agenda to yourself.  I think the mods know how to do their job, and they certainly don't need your rants to tell them how to do it.


Please don't have enough disrespect for the families and victims to post something attacking this post.  If you have an issue, pm me and keep hatred and rudeness off this thread before someone takes it as harassment and reports it.


Not to mention that you just did EVERY thing you told everyone else not to do.  This was not a debate.

To clarify to everyone:


This topic is NOT about God and people's individual beliefs.


It is about a tragic event which claimed the lives of many.




Local Mods :  If you think this should be closed because some people can't have the decency to keep their non-related opinions to themselves, by all means, I won't hold it against you.


In case that summon fails, and since we discussed it, I'll also summon


soxfan849 :

though I'm not a mod (I was one twice in the past, at least :V), I'd just like to throw in my opinion and say that I don't see how his post was very offensive, harassing, rude, etc at all. He kept it on topic, and also related his post to other peoples' posts in here. Clearly, he seemed to be in the right to post what he did, and he also raised some very valid questions to be discussed. Overall, and I'm not doing this with any sort of bias at all, I believe this should be left open, and he should have his post left untouched from its original state as it is now, Nya~.

Now, as I said, he raised some VERY good questions, and to be more on topic, I'll answer them with my own opinion.

1) "Why did he have access to guns?"
- It really seems that as long as you're over 18 or 21, you can purchase your own gun. IIRC, he first went to a Sporting Goods store to try and purchase the guns, but it was stated that they were semi-automatic guns, so I don't believe he purchased them there. In all honesty, he probably did it the same way as how most people I've heard at my school get guns, and that's illegally. It'd be no surprise to me, really, if he did get them illegally.

2) "Should teachers be armed?"
- I personally don't think Teachers or Staff in the school in general should be armed. Why? Because there has been history of teachers doing really bad things in schools too, and plus, a simple mistake could equal the deaths of many students and staff if a different Student gets the gun that the teacher was trusted in being armed with. I'd imagine it'd be very easy for certain students to overpower certain teachers as well, especially if they're older teachers.

3) "How can this be prevented in the future?"
- While I don't believe Teachers should be armed with guns at schools, I DO think that if we were able to have more police activity going on inside schools, or even have people from the military patrol the schools during and after school hours, I think it'd help out a lot. I see police men around my school quite often, honestly, though they don't seem to do a good job since there's a fight everyday here.

4) "WERE there warnings that went unnoticed?"
- If I recall correctly, it was indeed reported that he did show signs of mental illnesses, so that alone could be a huge warning sign. It's possible that he didn't get the right treatment he needed, then that definitely could have been the reason this incident happened.

5) "What's being done for the families?"
- I haven't heard of anything going on besides public funerals or whatever the correct name for it is, but that alone isn't enough to help them. What's worse is that I've heard that the Westboro Baptist Church may end up protesting the burials, in which case, the slight shred of faith in humanity I have left WILL be completely lost.

Elara : "Donations can actually help the families pay for funeral costs, since those are actually quite expensive."
thank you for bringing that up, cause that was one of the major things I had in mind when I brought up the idea of donations, Nya~.

To end my post, I'd just like to say that I've shed so many tears over this incident. It truly shows the disgusting side of humanity, and this incident alone will take forever for anyone involved or related to get over. My best wishes go out to those who lost or were damaged in this incident, and I hope they'll find the peace they need.
And for those who died, all I can say is Rest In Peace, at least to avoid breaking out into tears again...

Well, it's my thread and I want it closed.  I'm tired of people treating this thread as a manner to attack other's beliefs and ways of handling the event.  If you want to open a debate on the same topic, feel free to do so.  I think I have the right to ask my thread to be closed when it is not being used for the purpose I intended it for.

As for Mega:  Not to heartless after all, eh?