In the Wake of Tragedy

As we all know, what happened in Orlando was a tragedy. But, in the wake of tragedy, we as a human race always try to lay blame on something. May it be acts of terrorism, acts of religious beliefs, or acts of hatred. Has anyone ever stopped to think "Maybe it's just an act of violence?" Terrorism is violence. Acting against someone else and using your religion to justify it is violence. Hatred is violence in its most simplest form.

In addition to the three prominent forms of violence we see in today's society, we see the use of guns to implement this violence. The use of guns creates an even bigger and more widespread issue. Do we continue to allow them into the public's possession? Or do we keep them strictly military? I'll admit, my opinion on the matter is somewhere in between the two. Should we allow guns into the public? Yes, but not military grade weapons. There are plenty of guns that aren't military grade that serve as equally well. On keeping them strictly military, I believe that military grade weapons should remain in the military. That is the entire premise of the guns, the fact that they are military grade. The public has no need for something like that.

Now, you're probably wondering what my point to all this is. I want to shed light on the fact that what happened in Orlando was simply an act of violence. Yes, it was an attack on an LGBT+ club. But does it necessarily mean that such a tragedy could strictly happen to people in the LGBT+ community? No. What happened in Orlando could have happened to anyone. Don't get me wrong, I still strongly support loving whomever we choose to love regardless of sexuality. But I wanted to emphasize the fact that an act of violence does not only go out towards one group of people. As human beings, we all have a seed of violence of some form inside us. We just have push past that and not let the violence and hatred consume us.

This is my message to all. Do not hate a group of people based on your beliefs. Do not let hatred consume you and allow violence to take over. Do not create petty arguments based on one opinion versus another. We are all different. We all have different ideas. Can we not just live life the way it is and not argue over who has the correct idea. The fact is, it's only an idea. Ideas don't become anything unless we make it happen. If it's an idea stemmed from violence, what happened in Orlando is likely to happen again. If it's an idea stemmed from love and compassion, then what happened in Orlando should never happen again. The point is, if we let our ideas become reality, then we will always be at war. Are we going to let our friends become enemies based solely on the fact that each of us have different ideas? Because we shouldn't.

I shall end my rant here. I am deeply saddened by what happened in Orlando and my heart goes out to the families of those affected as well as all of the members of the LGBT+ community. Love is love, and may this tragedy never happen again.