The Worlds Next Genocide

I feel it is our responsibility to intervene and help in any way that we as a nation can. Catholic Social Teaching teaches us to help thy neighbor. If we sit back and do nothing I do not see how that is us helping. What is occurring in Syria largely resembles that which occurred in Rwanda in the beginning. Unlike the Rwanda Genocide, this time I feel it is important and necessary that we intervene and offer our assistance to the Alawites as best we can. Another Genocide is not what this world needs, we need to come together and help each other. Personally I do not think CST is a guide on a national level when making decisions. I believe that when making decisions we often think of what will benefit us in the long run, which is sad and not right. Of course I dont believe this is the case all the time, but for the most part I think we are a world of selfish people who are willing to get their hands dirty only when they get something out of it. We should be using CST as a guideline when making decisions because it is right and just. I believe it is possible to us CST as a guide as individuals and as a nation. I think it would take immense effort at first, to remind ourselves of what CST tells us to do and how to act, but i do believe it is possible. I think it has to start with individuals, however, before it can spread to the nation.

Silence Begets Violence?

The tragedy that struck Connecticut has been felt not only in Newtown but everywhere around the world. People everywhere are sharing their sympathy and compassion with those who are suffering due to the actions taken that day. I feel we as a whole nation feel compelled to respond to this tragedy immediately due to the severity and horror of it all. I can say with confidence that if this same tragedy had happened to adults or teenagers, everyone would still share the same sympathy and feel the need to help in whatever way they can. However, the fact that they were children makes matters that much worse. We cannot wrap our minds around how it is possible for a human being to commit such a crime on such innocent lives. This has created such a direct call to action because it deserves one. The topics such as video games, gun control, and mental health treatment would not have been brought up to the severity that it has because of this event. Whether I believe in stricter gun control laws or banned video games, to me, is not the important issue and not what we as a society should be doing to help. We should be offering our services to anyone who needs it. We should be giving our love and sympathy and support to all those effected by it. It's hard to say where we should go from this without putting personal preferences into the matter, however, i do believe that if we all simply turned off the news and the media and stopped centering these events around the killers, it would prove more beneficial in the end. We would know the names of the victims, not the names of the murderers. We wouldn't be broadcasting the event so some other mentally unstable person could go and "top it." Their will always be problems and tragedies in the world, however we can help to lessen them.