On Monsters

Monsters are real. History, both ancient & recent, tells us so. 

I am not a particularly religious person, but I do believe in a higher power I choose to call God. And She is real pissed about what we are doing to her beloved artwork. 

I do not believe this "everything happens for a reason" bullshit, nor do I believe God is sitting on a cloud somewhere pulling puppet strings. She did not give my nephew cancer. He did not make me miscarry eight of my babies. God does not put guns in people's hands. 

I believe in science & the unexplained, fascinating phenomena that is the human body. I believe God gave us brains to use & free will to make our own choices. On the other side of the coin, we can be at the mercy of our upbringing & societal stereotypes (I'm looking at you, Fox News). Far too often we take what we are taught as bond, never asking questions or discovering things for ourselves. 

In the last 48 hours I have oscillated between rage, devastation, fear, & judgement. I have thrown things in anger & fallen to my knees, crippled by my own tears. Nothing makes sense & I am paralyzed with pain. 

That's what monsters do. 

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation defines domestic terrorism as follows:

"Domestic terrorism" means activities with the following three characteristics:

• Involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law;
• Appear intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination. or kidnapping; and
• Occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S.

What happened at Emmanuel AME Church is nothing short of domestic terrorism. It is not a "tragedy" or "act of violence". To use these words to describe the willful, conscious act of murdering nine human beings solely based on the color of their skin AFTER the monster sat with them while they prayed for an hour is despicable. 

Call it by its name: TERRORISM

Yes, I believe God is pissed. Hurt by us. Hurt for us. The very thing He has created is slowly but surely turning against itself. No one is born hating another. We learn it. We teach it. We see it. Or we can stand up to it; change hearts & minds. 

The time to affect that change is now. Our children do not deserve the hate & fear that has landed like a plaque of unfathomable proportions upon us. Use your brain. Use your heart. Use your voice.