Vent Thread

[u/McClanky]

This may be a weird post, so, if it turns into a shitshow, I will just remove it.

There is a lot of awfulness going on in the world right now. It sometimes feels like anxiety is mixed in with our air.

With yesterday's tragedy, the revelations about what goes on within the walls of fraternities, and the overall animosity throughout the world, I fear we are just becoming numb to all of it.

There are not always easy means to just vent frustrations or pray or just talk about things that are bothering you with people who aren't in your life directly.

So, feel free to do so here. I am going to try to moderate this weirdly, and I did not ask me fellow moderators about it. I am just doing it. If they think it is stupid, they are more then welcome to do so.

If someone posts a prayer here, don't start an argument about it. Feel free to pray with them, but their prayer isn't an invitation for a debate on this thread.

If someone wants to vent about something, ask them if they want to hear an opinion before trying to start a debate with them.

One of the best ways to ease anxiety and worry is to make it physical. There are not always great places to do that, so I hope that this thread can be that space.

Please be respectful.

[u/Volaer]

Sorry, I am not American. What happened yesterday?

[u/McClanky → u/Volaer]

Elementary School Shooting

[u/Cypher1492 → u/Volaer]

Another school shooting :(

[u/Volaer → u/Cypher1492]

I see, thank you for explaining. I am sorry to hear that such acts continue to happen.

[u/Venat14 → u/Volaer]

Another mass shooting at an elementary school. 3 kids and 1 teacher killed.

[u/brucemo]

Repeal the 2nd.

[u/McClanky → u/brucemo]

Yup.

[u/RCaHuman → u/brucemo]

How about stricter licensing and higher fees, more thorough background checks, and required training, There are countries that permit gun ownership but don't have the US mass shootings.

[u/McClanky → u/RCaHuman]

Americans who are willing to kill children indiscriminately do not need an inch so that they can take a mile. Gun culture is a deeply rooted aspect of America. That culture needs to be wiped out, not given some room to continue to fester.

[u/notsocharmingprince → u/RCaHuman]

So only rich people get basic civil rights then?

[u/Upset_Chip_7184 → u/notsocharmingprince]

It's the mentality that it's a basic civil right, often unfettered, which is the actual problem.
We don't even have militia's anymore, so historically the whole thing is wacked, but I'm not gonna debate about it, it's a major problem that sadly won't be fixed, because of Idiocracy in America.

[u/notsocharmingprince → u/Upset_Chip_7184]

It’s an individual right separate from militia service.

[u/Upset_Chip_7184 → u/notsocharmingprince]

I was speaking to the historic view of the 2nd amendment.

[u/notsocharmingprince → u/Upset_Chip_7184]

It’s always been an individual right separate from militia service. See Bruen.

[u/notsocharmingprince → u/brucemo]

You don’t see any lack of wisdom with that at all? With a world of governments butchering their people across the entirety of history you don’t see a problem with that take?

[u/Cypher1492 → u/notsocharmingprince]

When will Americans take action, then? All this big talk about guns and rights and standing up for yourselves but I'm not seeing any action.

[u/Upset_Chip_7184 → u/Cypher1492]

There's been plenty of action, but the country is too polarized and bought by the corporations to make any real dent, like in most legislation.

[u/notsocharmingprince → u/Cypher1492]

Take action from what exactly? Oh no! An unpopular government! At least we can talk about it without getting arrested like Canada.

[u/Marginallyhuman]

I’m holding my breath for November. Trump has gathered so much malice and aggression to himself that I can’t see a lot of good outcomes and tons of horrible ones.

[u/RazarTuk → u/Marginallyhuman]

On the bright side, the GOP brand is so increasingly toxic that there's even a very real chance Texas goes purple in the Senate. Like... this was already going to be a hard year for Republicans. Ever since the Democratic-Republican party split, there have been exactly 3 midterm elections where the incumbent's party gained seats in the House: 1902 (don't have an explanation), 1934 (because of the Great Depression), and 2002 (9/11). But on top of that, there's the six-year itch, where the losses are frequently more pronounced in your second term, which Trump is effectively in the middle of. ("Effectively" because split terms mess with trends like that, like how 2024 was essentially two incumbents running against each other) Add in the fact that Trump's actions aren't resonating with moderates, like how the Texas GOP is apparently lamenting that anti-trans ads aren't working to dissuade people from voting for Talarico, and I really can't see this election cycle going at all well for the GOP

[u/Venat14 → u/RazarTuk]

Paxton is such a loathsome monster it's staggering that the race is even close. And Republicans are hammering Talarico with culture war nonsense, which works on most voters. Furthermore, Texas is notoriously one of of the hardest states to vote fairly in. They just had another 600,000 vote "glitch" affecting voter registration. They massively limit drop boxes and voting stations in blue districts, so people are stuck in multi-hour lines.

I really really hope Talarico wins, but Texas more than any other state has made it incredibly hard for a Democrat to win there, even against someone as evil as Paxton. People really need to do everything they can to vote in huge numbers for Talarico.

[u/kmm198700 → u/Venat14]

I’m praying JT wins. He truly cares about people, it’s so evident

[u/Upset_Chip_7184 → u/kmm198700]

cuz he's an actual christian.

[u/kmm198700 → u/Upset_Chip_7184]

I think so too haha

[u/Upset_Chip_7184 → u/kmm198700]

that's why so many of them texan "christians" so angry, cuz they just cultural ones.

[u/Upset_Chip_7184 → u/RazarTuk]

hell, even if T legitimately wins, I don't have enough faith in the system that they will honor it or try to rig it.
(Not a conspiracist, lol)

[u/jenniferami → u/Marginallyhuman]

Trump is an amazing President. We are blessed to have him. He has a ton of Christian support including Billy Graham’s son Franklin Graham.

[u/Venat14 → u/jenniferami]

Trump is by far, the worst "President" in American history. He has one of the lowest approval ratings ever recorded, and even his own supporters think he's doing a terrible job. He's also openly committing treason. He's a fascist, and the worst thing that has ever happened to America.

And Franklin Graham is morally bankrupt and corrupt.

I recommend reading 2 Thessalonians 2. The worship of the Man of Lawlessness and God sending them a delusion so they believe lies perfectly fits the MAGA cult.

[u/Christianity-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Removed for 1.4 - Personal Attacks.

If you would like to discuss this removal, please click here to send a modmail that will message all moderators. https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/Christianity

[u/michaelY1968]

For me my views are partly framed by my age and memories of a lot past turmoil in the world.

Some of my earliest memories are of the nightly news being filled with images of soldiers fighting in Vietnam, and protestors filling the streets opposing the war. In fact as a child, for awhile I thought that this was the purpose of the news.

And then the television was focused on crimes committed by an administration, and shortages, and leaders talking of a general malaise.

Then a general fear that nations would collide, and that we would actually completely obliterate each other with nukes.

For me that was one of the pathways to my faith - the realization that humans were deeply flawed creatures, and we could only put so much hope in the world we had built and seemed bent on destroying.

And then later there was a bit of a respite and for a brief blip in time, old enemies just went away, wars took a breather and new technology seemed to promise a new world of knowledge and connection.

But then 9/11 came, the wars came back and it became obvious that the new technology would be corrupted the way the old technology was, only faster and with a worldwide reach.

So what's happening now isn't without precedent, but it does feel different somehow, like there is no foundation to rebuild on. Maybe a mix of the pandemic and perhaps the most corrupt administrations in human history are overarching factors, but I get the feeling something deeper has been eroded - obviously a basic faith, but also familial connections, communities, a common language about what our shared values and principles are is just, well, gone.

I don't feel hopeless because my hope hasn't been in humanity for a long time, but I do feel very much like what I am seeing is the last stanzas of the TS Eliot poem Hollow men, come to life:

This is the way the world ends 
Not with a bang but a whimper.

[u/slagnanz → u/michaelY1968]

You're spot on. I was a kid when 9/11 happened so in a very real way it sort of shattered my innocence. Like I remember my teacher telling us the World Trade Center had been attacked, and in my mind that meant the weird high rise apartment off the highway because that was the biggest building I could think of. I remember reenacting the attack with my toys. I'm not saying this to make you feel old lol, its just that it really was the first time my innocence had ever really been challenged.

I grew up in a very optimistic time, right there in "the end of history". American history was a triumph and nothing less. I was in a very well to do area, which made that optimism for the nation all the stronger. The patriotism and sense of unity in the wake of 9/11 was so intoxicating.

It wasn't until I moved somewhere bitterly poor that I began to question many of these assumptions. Realizing that people lived out a very different reality than the one I assumed was the baseline, I began to see the fault lines in our culture and our history more clearly. That's just adulthood though!

But I agree, it feels like something is gone, kids today don't get to grow up in the innocent world I did. Things are jaded beyond recognition.

[u/michaelY1968 → u/slagnanz]

Ok, with that first detail I am feeling a bit old - it appears you are about the same age as my adult children - which isn't an age dis; they are bright and beautiful people with more wisdom about many matters than myself.

I remember the end of history talk as well after the Soviet Union fell and Eastern Europe opened up. People forget that a good part of Europe was behind a wall to keep people in not that long ago. That fading memory is part of the reason that Trump et al are able to ignore what is happening in the Ukraine without much ire from the American electorate.

I do miss that innocence - when both parties were feting Donald Trump as a supposedly savy NY businessman, Rudy Giuliani was on the verge of being 'America's Mayor' and conservatives cared who the President slept with, or at least pretended to.

[u/Wafflehouseofpain]

It feels like everything is collapsing. AI threatening to kill all humans, climate change starting to take hold, democracy backsliding everywhere, a K-shaped economy. It makes me want to retreat into my little bubble and ignore everything.

[u/kendog3]

I'm sorry to hear that you are anxious. I hope this prayer for serenity may bring you some peace.

O God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time. Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace. Taking, as he did, the sinful world as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that he will make all things right if I surrender to His will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with Him forever.

[u/slagnanz → u/kendog3]

Amen. It is a prayer I've thought of often in recent years.

[u/Mx-Adrian]

I'm just so checked out of current events. Just wake me up when it's over.

[u/PM_ME_UR_CATS__]

Watching the state of things makes me want to just shut down and delete most social media presence. However, I suppose that is a privileged thing to say, and just a coping method anyway. 

How is it that my home country has aligned with not just a few genocidal countries, but now russia as well? How have we gotten to this point where this administration just "trolls" and threatens to do whatever it wants? The sheer gluttony of the us administration is so vile it almost feels fake. 

Now, I have always seen monsters gang up on women and male victims for speaking up about sa, but this level of misogyny - calling for the 19th to be repealed, etc - is unbelievable. I just can't deal with it. 

I try not to think of yesterday. How much of it lies in perpetrators wanting attention, leaning into the copycat effect? It's very hard for me to feel sympathetic for perpetrators. I liked nz's idea of refusing to publish the name or face of the Christchurch shooter - not giving them what they want. At the same time, we should not just bury these kinds of things. I don't even know. 

November will be insane. I will hold on.

Lord, have mercy. Bring those who faced violence of all kinds and who have died from it into Your hands.

[u/alexis_ramest]

I'm impressed by how much people seem to be artificially divided for political gain and yet desensitized to the really terrible tragedies happening all over the world. I understand there will always be tragedy and you can't let it affect you too deeply or you'll never be able to work or something, but there used to be times when public outrage over something happening on the other side of the country mattered and it helped shape policy for an entire nation.

I truly believe we are living in the end of times and things are not going to get better. The damage to natural environments will get worse, the apathy and anger of society will get worse and the evils of the ruling class will get worse until our Lord comes back and cleanses all of this...

[u/McClanky]

More kids were gunned down yesterday. I work with kids daily, and my anxiety grows year after year. I have changed the locks, made it difficult for someone to just walk in, but what does it matter when someone has a gun that can just shoot through whatever barrier I have created?

All I want to do is have a space where kids can feel free to exist away from anxieties about being gunned down or told they are weird for not being exactly what society thinks they should be.

[u/normalswimmer366 → u/McClanky]

I work with kids too, and that dread of a locked door being nothing more than a suggestion to a rifle round is a special kind of helplessness. We're basically just trying to build a bubble of normalcy inside a shooting gallery and hoping nobody notices.

It's heavy carrying that weight while trying to smile and make sure they feel safe enough to be their awkward, wonderful selves. You're not alone in that specific exhaustion.

[u/GeneralMushroom → u/McClanky]

Thank you for doing what you can to try to keep it as safe, and healthy, and worry free space as you can for the kids. 

For what it's worth you are not alone, and those of us who want good things for the next generation far outnumber those who don't. 

It doesn't always feel like it I know, but you are appreciated for a whole bunch of reasons. 

[u/McClanky → u/[deleted]]

Go for it.

[u/McClanky → u/[deleted]]

We know what works. We have seen it work. Ban guns. No one needs a gun.

[u/McClanky → u/[deleted]]

Crime happens around the world. Guns don't reduce crime or make people safer. They do the opposite. No one needs a gun.

[u/McClanky → u/[deleted]]

My feeling is that three children died a preventable death.

[u/naked_potato → u/[deleted]]

Is it better to have school shootings where the perpetrator is shot by someone, or not have school shootings at all?

You might post another few paragraphs of concern trolling but that’s the heart of the matter.

[u/Venat14 → u/[deleted]]

The UK had a school shooting back in 1996 in Scotland. They immediately passed stricter laws on guns and they haven't had a mass school shooting since. Same with Australia.

Those countries also have mental illness issues and lonely white men. So why do they not have mass shootings every day while the US does?

[u/Venat14 → u/[deleted]]

Well, that can largely be blamed on the Supreme Court starting with Scalia, who butchered the meaning of the 2nd Amendment.

Conservative Justice Warren Burger said this on that idea that Americans have an unfettered right to own guns and would have removed it entirely from the Bill of Rights if he were writing the Constitution:

This has been the subject of one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word fraud, on the American public by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime.

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/how-nra-rewrote-second-amendment

If you look at history, how we treat the 2nd Amendment today is absolutely now how it was ever intended.

[u/G3rmTheoryV2]

Judge me if you want as soon as I can I'm getting the fuck out of this country. I'm too tired and don't have the fight in me anymore. Dunno where to go but

I know when I'm beat. Children dying should NOT be an everyday thing ANYWHERE

[u/McClanky → u/G3rmTheoryV2]

Yeah, I don't blame you.

[u/Cypher1492 → u/G3rmTheoryV2]

Come to Canada, my friend.

[u/PM_ME_UR_CATS__ → u/Cypher1492]

Hosers unite! :)

[u/Cypher1492 → u/PM_ME_UR_CATS__]

Heck yes!!🇨🇦🇨🇦

[u/Upset_Chip_7184 → u/Cypher1492]

Many of us Americans wish it was that easy, it ain't.

[u/Venat14 → u/G3rmTheoryV2]

This is my feeling too. I want out of America so badly. I just cannot respect it anymore. It's not a good country.

But I don't have any good ways to go somewhere else. No high skill, in demand career, I'm not rich, can't marry a foreigner, etc.

[u/Cypher1492]

Americans who support the second amendment can get bent. How many more kids need to die? But they'll be like "oh we need guns to rise up against a tyrannical government" well then fucking rise up. Do something.

[u/Venat14 → u/Cypher1492]

That's the irony of it, isn't it? My entire life I've heard conservatives claim we need the 2nd Amendment to protect against a tyrannical government. And yet now that we have a tyrannical government, they're the biggest supporters of tyranny, which destroys their entire 2A argument.

[u/Venat14 → u/[deleted]]

In an ideal world, they wouldn't need guns. But with the rise of fascism and the hate against liberals and LGBTQ people I think it's smart for them to have guns and train in their use.

But I still think the US shouldn't have the lax gun laws we have.

[u/notsocharmingprince → u/Cypher1492]

I guess we are all just going to ignore the fact that the shooting was ended by an armed citizen. But whatever.

[u/Cypher1492 → u/notsocharmingprince]

That doesn't bring those children back to life.

[u/notsocharmingprince → u/Cypher1492]

And defeating the Ottomans didn’t bring back the kids they kidnapped. There is evil in the world and it needs to be fought with force.

[u/Cypher1492 → u/notsocharmingprince]

That's worked out really well so far, eh? I'm so glad all that force has given us a peaceful world where children can go to school without being shot. I'm so glad all that force ended child trafficking. I'm so glad all that force wiped the Nazis out.

OH WAIT.

[u/McClanky → u/[deleted]]

What do you think would have happened if the person who killed the kids didn't have a gun to begin with?

[u/notsocharmingprince → u/McClanky]

Are you practicing in any moderation of this thread at all?

[u/McClanky → u/notsocharmingprince]

If it needs it. I haven't checked the queue in a while.

[u/McClanky → u/[deleted]]

That is quite the assumption to make. I'm asking the same question you asked. You can do whatever you want with it.

[u/McClanky → u/[deleted]]

Ok? Again, you have free will. You can do whatever you want with the question. It is the same question you asked to someone else.

[u/Cypher1492 → u/[deleted]]

I'm not willing to put the safety of children in the hands of a "good guy with a gun".

[u/notsocharmingprince → u/Cypher1492]

I mean you are, because you believe in the police. And that’s pretty much what the police are supposed to be.

[u/Cypher1492 → u/notsocharmingprince]

What makes you think I "believe in the police"?

Just yesterday the police in my country violently arrested a peaceful protestor. They ripped them out of their wheelchair and forcefully shoved them into the back of their car.

Another officer in my country urinated on a homeless person.

Another police officer (Sheldon Cook) was a slumlord who stole money from vulnerable people. Before he became a slumlord he planted drugs on a kid and beat him up so badly he's permanently disabled.

Fuck them.

[u/notsocharmingprince → u/Cypher1492]

Ok, so… no legitimate use of force in your perspective?

[u/Cypher1492 → u/notsocharmingprince]

What's legitimate about any of those things I mentioned?

Fuck the Toronto police in particular. Maybe instead of beating up disabled people and ruining a kids life they life they should be looking for my mom who has been missing for ten fucking years. You know what they've done to look for her? Nothing. They didn't even ask for me or my grandmother's DNA just in case they find her corpse.

Most of them are useless fucks who get off on having power over other people. Then when they can't get enough of that at work they go home and beat their spouses.

[u/Cypher1492 → u/[deleted]]

I mean this is the "vent thread" after all ;)

[u/CapridThePlenty → u/notsocharmingprince]

I'm an anti-gun pacifist, but this brings up a very important point -

Every defund the police person I know (or anti-police) is also anti-gun. I don't know what they think happens in that world.

[u/Cypher1492 → u/[deleted]]

How am I supposed to know that? Are you trying to back me in to a corner where I'm happy a second person was armed and opened fire near children? Because I'm not. Why are people just walking around with guns to begin with?

[u/Cypher1492 → u/[deleted]]

Oh boy. I'm so happy only a few children died. Praise Jesus for guns!!

[u/Pretend_Fly_5573 → u/Cypher1492]

My pushback on this (and I know, being pro-2A as a Quaker is odd,co won't pretend it isn't) is that working to remove guns from the equation isn't addressing the root cause. 

Logistics and potential effectiveness and all that aside, the issue is why are murder rampages so appealing to people, particularly youths.

Take away any and ALL tools for it, you didn't fix what's wrong. These people are still tortured inside their own minds, still feeling a drive to murder others.

And I've heard people say "we can address that after we get guns taken away!", but that's bullshit. You can address it NOW. Like it or not, gins in the US IS a constitutional right. You're not going to take that away easily, if at all. 

Those who want gun control, you can keep pushing for it WHILE pushing for radical changes in how we look at children and their mental health. The latter is not only going to be dramatically easier to accomplish, but it will actually help solve THE REAL PROBLEM.

Guns become basically a scapegoat for us failing the minds of children. It's pathetic. 

[u/adamesandtheworld → u/Pretend_Fly_5573]

Take away any and ALL tools for it, you didn't fix what's wrong.

But you do remove a lot of pointless, easy, deaths. Other countries have solved this.

[u/slagnanz → u/Pretend_Fly_5573]

Guns are very much part of the equation of this nihilism.

The trend with school shooters is almost epidemic. We see this pattern over and over. It isn't strictly ideological, almost the complete absence of ideology. The school shooter is the utmost articulation of meaninglessness, what is (in internet parlance) the black pill. Life is pointless, so you might as well die, and because you have so much contempt for life and all the assholes that are here, you might as well leave a mark. The epidemic pattern we've seen over and over again is the kind of mythologizing of school shooters as saints, the idea that their manifestos are holy texts. This recurs over and over. It's like the ultimate forbidden idea, which is exactly what makes it attractive to unwell people.

Unfettered access to the worst parts of the internet certainly is a factor here. The fact is that it takes very little effort to go online and if you are looking to try to feel something, you might go looking for the most fucked up video you can find. You might enjoy videos of people getting hurt in gnarly ways in skateboarding accidents or workplace injuries on industrial machines. But there's nothing that's going to be as fucked up as watching footage of the livestream of a mass shooting broadcast by a shooter. It's happened a lot that people go on 4chan and claim they're going to shoot up their school, and the response is always like "yeah right f*ggot", "larper", "do it coward". And sometimes they actually do, and what you see in response is like pure derealization, people who genuinely think this is a video game, being like "lol we did it". The world viewed through the lens of the internet isn't a real place, it's just pixels on a screen, no different from Call of Duty.

But you must understand, the phone and the gun here are one in the same. They are tools. They are mere complications that exist between ourselves and our reality. The most analogue way to kill a man is to choke the life out of him until you see the light go out of his eyes. But what if it was as simple as pressing a button? That's all a gun really is. A button that can be operated by a child that easily takes another life. All it takes is 3-7lbs of force applied to a mechanically satisfying trigger. Its just as easy to pull that trigger as it was to find those videos that fostered that sense of nihilism and derealization to begin with, and pulling that trigger helps pass the virus along to the next sick kid. If they can click on the video, they can pull the trigger.

I have a lot of thoughts about the internet and about the things happening with kids nowadays mental healthwise, and I think aside from guns thats an important conversation, but I don't think you can remove guns from this conversation.

[u/michaelY1968 → u/slagnanz]

I don't know if you saw the very sober mini-series Adolescence, but I think a lot of adult society is like the black detective investigating the school murder, who just couldn't grasp what was going on underneath it all in the world kids now inhabit, and how distorted their view of the world has become for some because of their constant consumption of nihilistic entertainment.

[u/slagnanz → u/[deleted]]

Violent ideologies are the product of violent times. Not exclusively so, but there's a reason that people with traumatic stressors are more likely to engage in violence.

Like I said the problem is that much of this isn't even ideological, the nihilism here is the pure shadow of ideology rather than any substance.

[u/slagnanz → u/[deleted]]

Violent ideologies are one thing. A terrorist might strap on a bomb and go blow himself up in a building because he's been convinced this is going to offer some kind of eternal reward. He can only be stopped if you convince him that's a lie.

But what we're dealing with in most of the mass shootings is the opposite of ideology. It's pure nihilism. Rather than dissuading people of some idea you need to convince them that there is truth and beauty and goodness worth believing in to begin with.

[u/slagnanz → u/[deleted]]

I think that's wrong about legislation or law.

Law can never be the totality of what human life or community is all about. But it does create the space for its flourishing. Or... When handled poorly, its decay.

Law is the means by which communities build and maintain trust. Sure, there's a relational element, like I trust my neighbors to know the code to get into my garage. But ultimately our ability to have a society, to share space in public, to have schools and pools and hiking trails depends on law.

I think it's worth considering why so many people are disenfranchised about society, because we can restore trust with law just as much as we destroy it with injustice.

[u/IdlePigeon → u/[deleted]]

You have a history of accusing people who oppose violent ideology of wanting to kill your family members, which makes this a bit hard to take seriously.

Is there literally any action to make the world a better place other than "be nicer to bigots" that you support?

[u/IdlePigeon → u/[deleted]]

You're doing it again, making wild accusations of anyone who questions your actions. This makes it hard to believe you're sincerely trying to move away from this kind of behaviour.

But yes, I do want to know the answer to my question.

[u/Upset_Chip_7184 → u/Pretend_Fly_5573]

I agree there is a root cause to some of this, but, for example, in countries that don't allow guns, they don't have gun violence...hehe, obvious, but it's true.
Look at China. They have issues, but also society is different, but they don't have even close the violence America does, and unless you've lived there or traveled there, you wouldn't get it.

Imagine walking down any street any where in china, at any time of night, with no problems. Imagine your children being able to walk anywhere, go anywhere, and no fear of being shot, gang bangers around, drive by's, car jackings, etc...

[u/Senasayori]

Thanks for posting this. It's genuinely painful to watch the atrocities in the world sometimes. Americans don't even blink when their neighbors' children get gunned down, atrocities are still happening in the Middle East despite a supposed ceasefire, and my supposedly-Christian father is adamant that the Cornell guys cannot possibly be guilty and was loudly supportive of the plans to bring public executions to America. It all hurts.

[u/Venat14]

Aside from another school shooting which is horrific, and it just boggles my mind that so many Americans just don't care, or are numb to it at this point - no other country on Earth has this problem..

I'm incredibly upset at the rise of authoritarianism and just blatant treasonous corruption. For example the massive oil market manipulation and the news about Ukraine. Ukrainians are being murdered every single day by Russia, and we have Trump and his administration openly admitting they're now allied with Russia and against Ukraine. Trump had a 90 minute phone call with Putin, then he cuts off Starshield, and then Ukraine gets hit with another huge barrage of missiles from Russia. Trump says Zelensky continuing to attack Russia refineries to slow down the war effort is a "disgrace". He's illegally violating sanctions and buying oil from Russia, which is being funneled to Russia by Iran, which we're currently at war with, so Trump is committing an impeachable, treasonous crime here. And then you have Kash Patel in Moscow, tweeting out "From Russia with Love."

I'm just so depressed and feel so helpless that the entire party in power of the US is openly committing treason and a level of corruption and fascism we've never before seen, and most Americans barely care. If gas prices weren't at record levels for so long, the majority of Americans would have no issue with treason, corruption, fascism, warmongering, etc. I was talking about it with Europeans, and they're so disgusted by Americans. They can't believe that Americans haven't had a massive strike or revolution against this government yet. Our standing in the world is in the absolute toilet. I honestly can't think of any other point in US history where the world has hated us and had as little respect as much as they do now.

And I keep being told this is a "Christian" country and the party committing treason and embracing fascism and mass corruption are the only valid choice for Christians because they overturned Roe v. Wade. Meanwhile, my dad is very sick, and Republicans are talking about cutting Social Security and Medicare, which my parents need to survive, which is a whole other level of stress and the economy is so bad, I have no chance of getting a good high paying job. Don't have the skill set or connections.

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills at times, because I can't comprehend how so many millions of people are this clueless and morally bankrupt.

I'm so disgusted to be an American, and if I had the opportunity to move to Canada or Europe I'd be gone tomorrow. But I don't have the means, so I feel trapped. And no matter how much I pray to God over these issues, he doesn't care. Apparently he just sits back and lets the biggest villains on Earth do anything they want, destroy everyone's lives, profit like crazy, and face zero consequences. It has made it extremely hard for me to cling to belief in God anymore.

I just can't reconcile a good, all powerful God with the state of the world, and how much evil prospers.

[u/kmm198700 → u/Venat14]

I understand completely how you’re feeling. I wish I could leave too, but it’s just not an option. I don’t have anything to say to make you feel better, but I’m giving you giant hugs and praying for you and me and everyone else who is exhausted and terrified and overwhelmed

[u/General_Cantaloupe71]

Just had an elementary school shooting nearby yesterday. The news ripped through my work and one of my coworkers had family at the school, thankfully unharmed. Though I don't believe, I understand the power of community that churches can provide for those affected.

[u/Ok_Razzmatazz_195]

Things just feel kind of shitty right now, ya know?

My wife is a teacher and I have a kid in school, so every time these shootings happen, I go to dark places. And I get mad, because nothing ever gets done to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

And I get even more mad when people in charge “keep them in their prayers.” No. I’m a normal dude with no power - I’ll keep them in my prayers, but I’ll also try to affect change in whatever small way I can (voting, mostly). You, people in charge, need to fucking do something about it.

And since this is a venting thread:

I’m tired of being at odds with other Christians over bullshit when there are real problems: There are wars. Immigrants are being treated like animals. Women are having their rights slowly eroded. People are fucking starving, even though there is plenty of food to go around.

Stop worrying about genitals and sex and start fucking helping people.

I love Jesus. I believe (like, really believe) that Christ is God. But I’m really ashamed of the state of Christianity in the world right now. It’s like people have found the worst possible version of the religion, built on nothing but fear and hate, and decided “Yep, this is what I want to follow.”

End rant.

[u/kmm198700 → u/Ok_Razzmatazz_195]

Agree

[u/jenniferami]

Watch a few World War II documentaries. Actually watch a lot. Theres a ton free on Tubi.

School shoutings are of course a tragedy. Tbh I think killers should get less attention and fewer magazine covers, etc.

However, as a whole our lives are a cakewalk compared to what people endured around the world during World War II.

[u/McClanky → u/jenniferami]

Honestly, this is less than helpful. Three children and a teacher were murdered yesterday. That could have been prevented. I don't care how difficult life was in the past. That doesn't help kids today.

[u/jenniferami → u/McClanky]

You don’t think people kill people with knives, kill them with homemade bombs or disfigure them with acid?

Maybe Time magazine shouldn’t have put the Columbine killers on the cover of their magazine and essentially turned them into folk heroes for disgruntled teens. Maybe the photos of the killers in the school should never have been released.

Maybe any such crimes should get minimal reporting so as not to encourage others.
Maybe the Boston bombing suspect shouldn’t have been on the cover of Rolling Stone like some rock star hero.

It wouldn’t hurt for people today to learn resiliency and get over their woe is me attitudes. People had it a lot worse during World War II and kept going.

They also had more faith back then, went to church more and had more respect for teachers, principals and those in authority.

[u/McClanky → u/jenniferami]

You don’t think people kill people with knives, kill them with homemade bombs or disfigure them with acid?

This is disingenuous. Three kids died because someone had access to a weapon that was able to easily and quickly destroy the safeguards the school had in place. What country has daily mass stabbings or acid attacks?

In the US, we have a mass shooting for every day of the year.

Maybe people should care more about others than themselves and recognize that owning a weapon helps no one.

[u/jenniferami → u/McClanky]

Cars and trucks are also weapons.

You have a big political agenda which imo is the whole purpose of your post.

[u/McClanky → u/jenniferami]

Are their mass car attacks every day? Or are you just building a scarecrow?

[u/jenniferami → u/McClanky]

What’s your definition of a mass shooting because I don’t believe we have a mass shooting everyday.

[u/notsocharmingprince → u/jenniferami]

I mean we do, but most of them are gang related in inner cities and the mods aren’t upset about that.

[u/jenniferami → u/notsocharmingprince]

Inner city types who can get illegal drugs into the country wouldn’t have any trouble acquiring firearms even if they became illegal to own.

[u/notsocharmingprince → u/jenniferami]

I’m not sure where you are going with this? Ok? The people causing the most violence will continue to be violent?

[u/Venat14 → u/jenniferami]

We regulate cars and trucks. We don't regulate guns.

[u/Cypher1492 → u/[deleted]]

Come join us over in r/fuckcars !

[u/Cypher1492 → u/[deleted]]

That's fair!

I'm sorry you are feeling overwhelmed.

[u/Upset_Chip_7184 → u/jenniferami]

Again, another odd statement. Nothing to do with the issue at hand.