Truth Hurts

Kudos to Ezra:

The desire to segue instantly into an argument over gun control reflects, I think, the human ache to establish control -- however illusory -- over a tragic and senseless event. In the same way we're vaguely comforted by knowing that a horrific car accident was the result of an unbuckled seat belt and a lung cancer came from a lifetime of chain smoking, we want to be able to say that if we only change this law, tweak that policy, we can prevent this awful killing from ever being repeated.

In the immediate aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings I was disgusted to see all sorts latching on to this tragedy in order to score political points. Even Larry Johnson, a man I highly respect, couldn't wait to make the point that the scale of this massacre is a daily occurance in Iraq. It is not an incorrect comparison, but couldn't he wait at least a few days before making it?

But Ezra puts his finger on it when he points out that it is a natural human response to want to make sense of a tragedy like. We do it by looking for simple explanations. It is much harder to accept what is probably closer to the truth. Sometimes bad things happen.

I think The Dread Pirate Roberts said it best. "Life is pain. Anyone who says differently is selling something."