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April 23, 2007
Confused Americans for Truth - Fears of a Backlash Stalk News Media
I've been seeing this off and on during the past week: stories in the mainstream press portraying a concern about a backlash against Korean-Americans because Cho Seung Hui, the Virginia Tech killer, was of Korean descent. This parallels a concern in conservative blogs that liberal politicians will jump on the gun-control bandwagon.
Neither concern seems justified to me. The defining characteristic of Cho was not his ability to buy a gun or his ancestry, it was his firm belief that he was a victim of a grand conspiracy by the wealthy elites of America. As such, Cho would have been welcome in any segment of our two-party system, whether it be among Democrats who believe the same things, or Republicans who actually ARE victims of a grand conspiracy of wealthy elites.
Honestly, I'm more worried about a backlash against the mentally ill than against gun laws or Koreans.
That would be an equally big mistake, because Cho's problem wasn't that he was mentally ill, it's that he was wrong. You can't cure this with pills. You cure it by telling people they're wrong. You think everybody hates you? Kid, most people don't even KNOW you. Join one of the nerd gaming clubs and get a life. You're afraid of cats? Your high-heeled shoes are more lethal than a cat. Leave him alone and he'll leave you alone.
People look with disdain at modern psychology because it seeks to find the root causes of the stupid things people do. But root causes don't justify stupid behavior, they explain why the behavior is stupid. The heart and soul of mental health is in this single statement-- You are wrong. There is nothing more liberating than knowing you don't have to give in to the anger and the fear because it's just plain WRONG. It's amazing to me that more people don't take advantage of that wonderful mind-set.
Pass it on the next time you see a troubled teen.
Respectfully submitted,
Ferdinand T. Cat
# At Mon 2:38 AM | Permalink | Trackback URI | Comments (0) | More Confused Americans for Truth | Tags: conservative mental health philosophy psychotherapy Virginia Tech
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