Sometimes, though, as with Scott Roeder, the "man" who gunned down Kansas abortion clinic operator Dr. George Tiller, they allow themselves to be captured — no doubt to spew more of their hate-filled self-righteousness on a national stage during trial.
It is almost always males who do this — boys or men — and very rarely a woman. If they are female, it almost never involves as cold and calculating a manner.
We should not, despite the obvious signs of insanity, take these deadly incidents as merely another strain of madness. There are too many that are horribly analogous, especially in our violent culture, which makes certain that guns are always handy when someone snaps.
Such violence is indicative of our nature, a well-engrained and established pattern since the first proto-humans stalked the earth. This is not something that should surprise us unless we are somehow in denial about the true nature of man. In fact, many males display the same aggression but in different ways, and are able to control it enough to function in society.
And it truly is mostly in the male — in testosterone, obviously, and therefore a biological curse we must do a better job as a
Most of those heavenly appeals for peace and brotherhood actually were written long ago by males convinced they were hearing the one and true voice of God. Anything they sent down to us should therefore be highly suspect.
To limit the carnage — and curb the non-lethal violence as well — we have to think beyond revenge or saintly forgiveness, or any other emotional response, and recognize what is in all of us, especially the male of the species. And we have to start acting before, not after, violence erupts.
The other side of testosterone, or whatever spurs these rampages, also has provided drive for human creativity and knowledge and a fierce will to survive and expand the role of humans across the planet. The problem has always been the dark side.
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