A Vicious Cycle
Hate vs. Hate

By Shane Collins

(Page 2 of 5)

There was another story on the CNN website about a family that had been waiting for more than 16 years to see the execution of their son’s killer. Shortly before it was to take place, the execution was stayed because of an issue about whether or not the lethal drug mix caused pain in the process, because a constitutional amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. The murder victim’s father said the delay gave him one more reason to be fed up with a criminal justice system he feels has let him down. “People tell me I’m full of anger. Why shouldn’t I be?,” related the father. He also said how he often imagines how his son must have suffered, and how he wanted to personally exact revenge on the killer with his own hands.

This is a very strong example of what a person becomes based on where he puts his attention. This father has spent 16 years fixated on brutal suffering to the point that he now deeply craves inflicting pain and suffering on the inmate. Through fighting hate with hate, he has taken on a characteristic of the person he hates more than anything else, and it consumes him. Dwelling on his anger, there is no end to the suffering the father is perpetuating within himself, because he can’t bring back his son’s life. By not letting go of it, he also contributes to maintaining a stance of suffering in his family, because, as Wisdom Master Maticintin has stated, “what we feel affects those in our environment.” Anger becomes a perpetual reminder to continue focusing on anger.

Regarding perpetual reminders of hatred reported in the news media, there aren’t many that draw people’s attention as strongly as violent suburban shooting sprees. One that really got the attention of the U.S. media, as well as much of the world, was the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in Colorado. Two students, filled with hatred towards different social classes, went on a shooting spree, killing and injuring many before taking their own lives. It was a stark example of the extremes of the effect of focusing on intense hatred, and lashing out in response. The reverberations of that event were strong enough in the minds of many people that they still echo to this day. In fact, just eight days after the Columbine attack, in Taber, Alberta, a 14-year-old went to his former school and opened fire with a rifle, killing one and injuring another. It was revealed the boy had been teased at school and showed signs of depression before the shooting; it was another instance of lashing out at the perceived cause of suffering.

Since then, there have been more attacks of this nature around the world, showing a trend of similar circumstances. There was even a book published called The Copycat Effect, correlating massive media coverage of tragedies and an echo of similar events in their wake; or, in other words, what we place our attention upon manifests in our environment. The fact is that extreme acts of hatred and violence, especially when they hit close to home with people, are good for business in the media. People buy more newspapers, watch more news on T.V., and scour the internet for information when these things occur. This magnifies the presence of fear which increases the influence of hatred in people’s lives.

An example of how strong the Columbine influence has remained was when in April of 2007, eight years after the Colorado massacre, a student at Virginia Tech repeated the pattern, methodically attacking and killing many people, then taking his own life. In ‘media packages’ left behind, he displayed an intense focus on hatred towards what he perceived as the cause of his suffering. He also paid homage to the two students responsible for the Columbine attack, calling them ‘martyrs.’

Later on in 2007, the reverberations continued, but with a clock-like consistency. On October 10th, in Cleveland, Ohio, a 14-year-old boy opened fire at school, wounding four, before ending his own life. Exactly four weeks later, on November 7th, at a High School in Finland, an 18-year-old student killed several people before ending his own life. He had posted internet videos compiled of violent events, including the Columbine massacre, previous to his attack. Then, exactly four weeks after that shooting, on December 5th, a 19-year-old male went into an Omaha shopping mall and randomly shot many people, killing some, before turning the gun on himself. According to the Omaha World-Herald, he had recently lost his job and his girlfriend. He left a suicide note indicating he felt a lot of anger at himself and a lack of self-worth, adding “...but I’m going to be famous now.” Like the Virginia Tech shooter, and the Finland shooter, he left behind messages stating his anger and, like the others, intentionally used his violent actions to show the world his hatred.

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