Al Turtle: Killer’s Parents Should Be Accountable, Too

I was musing over the news coverage of the killings at Virginia Tech and was struck by two things. There seems to be an almost obsessive attempt to find fault, blame, or responsibility. And there seem to be almost equally careful attempts to avoid responsibility. I have gotten fairly comfortable with the NRA-like response, “don’t blame guns.” And, by the way, I don’t blame guns. I have thought through those issues and find guns to be rather innocent. I personally like the probing into actions of the people who had information and did not act. I like looking at their logic. I think, as a culture, we really need to look at our tendency to see frightful things and passively do nothing. I think we could do better. What made me jump was a phrase, “No parents should ever have to face this.” The context was not about the grieving parents of the killed and wounded. The context was about the parents of the shooter. My reaction was, “Wow, those parents just received what they had earned! I wonder why they should
not have to face it?”