The
world’s attention fell upon Orlando, Fla., and not because of anything that
occurred at Disney World.
For
in the early hours of Sunday, an armed man entered a club whose defining
characteristic was that it was a place where gay people were not made to feel
unwelcome.
AFTER
A FEW hours, local police wound up engaging in a shoot-out with the man, and
some 50 people were killed – along with more than 50 more wounded.
That
puts it in the category of the worst mass shooting in our nation’s history. It
seems the gunman who provoked the incident made statements claiming he did it
in the name of Allah, and the ISIS activists of the Middle East also are taking
credit – although it seems they are more interested in gaining public attention
for themselves.
In
short, the bloodbath occurred – it would seem – because someone objected to the
concept of gay people being treated with any dignity or respect as human
beings. What really frosts their bottom, however, is that western society
generally is coming about to realize how ignorant homophobia can be.
Does
that mean we can start thinking of those conservative ideologues who rant and
rage about gay people being given special treatment every time they stick up
for their rights as being aligned with ISIS or any of the other people of the
Middle East who act up in ways they say are beneficial to Islam?
I’M
PRETTY SURE that the conservatives of western society who have particular
objections to gay rights would take great offense to such a statement. They
probably would claim they are the real patriots willing to fight for our way of
life.
Although
I can’t help but wonder at how some of the ideological nonsense they spew about
our society’s flaws really would put them in line with the way of thinking of
these extremists who use Islam to try to justify themselves.
Perhaps
our nation’s conservative ideologues on a certain level are jealous that they
can’t use the extreme violent tactics of a group like ISIS against the people
they disagree with?
Is
that really what some people would like to have in terms of the way our culture
operates? The extremism, except without all those funky Arabs. Whites only,
please!
IT
DID AMAZE me the degree to which so many officials were quick to come out with
public acts intended to put distance between themselves and this incident.
Heck, our very own Gov. Bruce Rauner was lagging behind, bringing up the rear
literally in issuing the statement saying that flags at government buildings
will fly at half-staff in tribute to the 50 deceased.
It’s
not like this was even the only potential anti-gay incident of Sunday.
An
arrest was made in Santa Monica, Calif., on Sunday of a man with a trunk-load
of firearms and explosives. It seems he was headed for West Hollywood for an
L.A. Pride festival to take place that day.
What
kind of actions he had in mind, we don’t know. It seems he got caught before
anything bad could happen. Which is the only reason we don’t have news reports
of coast-to-coast anti-gay violence taking place in the United States.
THE
SCARY THING is that these people probably do think, on a certain level, that
they’re standing up for moral ideals. Just like I'm sure they'll find a way to condemn President Barack Obama for his Sunday statements defending the rights of those who were killed. I'm also sure all those people wearing
those “Make America Great Again” caps and touting the ideals of Donald Trump
think they’re doing right by society.
They
ain’t.
And
while I’m sure there are people who will argue that Trump really doesn’t buy
into all the nonsense his presidential campaign has been spewing, the fact is
that these are the kind of people who will get stirred up the most.
Which
makes me wonder how many more actions like these do we have the potential to
see in coming months? Even one is too many.
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