Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Did anyone cry for Larry


Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there. I do not sleep …
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die.
These words are part of a memorial to Larry King
Larry King is the boy on the right in this picture the killer is the boy in the left

Why are we here, do humans just exist and are we creating our own destruction? I think Mirrorboy was asking these questions in his most recent post and he quite rightly he pointed out some of the horrors we humans have created and normally I would answer his thoughts in a comment but I thought maybe I would try to express some of my feelings through a post today. I’m not going to address all his thoughts today just those that deal with religions.

My first thought is that we humans have created everything and there is some debate among his commentators on whether man created God or God created us but I ask that does that really matter. Because at the essence of all religions is a message of love and peace, you will not find hate in their teaching directly.

Religions and I used to belong to one, can do good things for mankind but I agree religions are used by many to subvert our own kind and to control others. Do the Mormons and others send missionaries out to better their church or to help others, it’s a bit of both I believe. Religions must grow and convert people to their beliefs its their goal and they justify through their good works. It’s as Mirrorboy points to they are trying to be number one also. Why would it matter to a religion if people believed or not in God as long as they believed in the religion.

And are you a better person because you don’t believe in god, belong to a religion or have faith in anything other then that today exists? I don’t think so either. I am not sure religion or the lack there of it describes why we kill and harm each other. But for all the horror in today’s world there are good things going on and I ask you Mirrorboy and some of you others expressing doubts and concerns to have some faith in humanity.

The words above are form Larry’s website it’s a memorial of his short life. Larry, while you may not of heard of him his death while tragic was not as valued as others. He appears to have been a sweet little boy who had a passion for dressing in female attire and heels. He never ran from his tormentors. Apparently the defendant has claimed what drove him over the edge was Larry’s Valentine card to him. Larry had no qualms about asking his classmates out or asking for their love.

Larry’s young life was brought to an end by another child named McInerney, a classmate who apparently told others that “We should jump him,” after Larry called McInerney “baby” during the days prior to the murder. McInerney told another student that he did not like Larry because Larry was gay and dressed like a girl, and that he and his friends were going to jump Larry and “shank” him. In the end McInerney shot Larry in the head and was arrested.

Larry killer’s was also a fan of Hitler and all things Nazi, and yes humans created that empire also, but who was ever there for Larry’s killer, for I don’t think its religion alone responsible for the killers of this world. A boy of 15 didn’t become this way on his own. McInerney, someone I have to believe taught him to hate or didn’t care enough about him to teach him not to hate. He is on trial today as an adult for the shooting of Larry, and it’s sad to see two young lives wasted here.

And its just not Larry, this week in NY another human was found guilty of killing someone because he was different. Moses was born a man but preferred to live as a woman. Green, who was born Moses Cannon but began living as a woman at age 16, frequently dressed in women's clothing but was wearing jeans and a T-shirt the night she was killed. His life wasn’t worth much to his killer; several witnesses said they heard his killer refer to Moses as a "faggot" just before Moses was shot. Moses was only 22 and she had no chance in this life it appears, because of the hate we humans have created.

Balanced against these two stories is the story of another child who had no chance in life. His story is much different as a nation cried for him. He met prime ministers and billionaires. He I have read was a person of faith. But he had faith in the same humans, Liam Fiarhurst, after he had been diagnosed with cancer said, “I’m going to donate the money I raise to CLIC Sargent. They’re a charity that helps families who’ve got children with cancer and leukemia. Liam died this June and he was only 14, taken by cancer something as cruel as the two killers above. I’m not sure its as bad as Mirrorboy makes humanity to be; sure we have problems, but for the millions he points out we spend on weapons and killing; its also true one little boy raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the good of others.

Mirrorboy points out we are all chasing something a better job, a fancier car, a better life through money, and I’m not sure its wrong to try and improve your self. I worked hard to get where I’m at in life and I don’t owe anyone anything. I don’t think its wrong to be successful, what might be wrong it what you do with your success or in Liam’s case his fame.

If you Google Liam, Larry or Moses names, pages of information and stories will appear. Its just such a shame that everyone cried for Liam and few have cried for Larry and Moses. I don’t think anyone’s life is worth less than another’s, I don’t think children should be killers, and I don’t think we are on the right path in our societies if a child who died from cancer is celebrated (and rightly so) but children who are killed through ignorant hate are simply ignored by the greater society.

Should we be spending those millions on machines, which kill, or should we spending our monies on research for cancer and education for tolerance. And is society ever going to be tolerant of those of us who are different from the norm? It is us humans who have the capacity for love and hate after all we are just continuing the past as it was one before us, when will it ever end.

If you have time please visit the links to Larry and Liam they were remarkable persons few ever got to know and they both died neither having a chance in life but at least one of them should still be with us today. I’m not asking you to cry for Larry but maybe recognize he was here with us and that his life and his hopes were every bit as valuable as Liam’s.

Before leaving I would like to say good bye to a couple of our fellow bloggers Jayson, the Night Rider, who I have the pleasure of coming to know he says he is taking a break and to my good friend Courage, who has decided to stop blogging, I’m just sad to see you go and I wish you the greatest success, I will miss you both.

As always thanks for reading, take care and be safe

Cvn70

5 comments:

  1. Thank you for posting that. Debate is good.

    However I don't think anyone said that religion is responsible for all the bad in the world - just for some of it.

    Some may well argue that Hitler and the German National Socialists were based on a religion (of a sort - it depends how you define 'religion') but verily it doesn't stop them being bad, whether they were or not.

    I'm sure you didn't really mean the contrary!

    I will always defend a person's right to believe in god. Whichever god. But organised religion? For every good person and deed I bet we could find a bad person and deed. I don't think the churches had more or less good people doing good things than exist outside them - although I admit that is hard to prove.

    None of which will stop me posting a little video I found. You may know it - it's obviously American - it questions who might go to heaven and a bit more!

    It'll be interesting who takes up the challenge of arguing against it!

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  2. Hey Bob I'm really glad you decided to start writing this blog in addition to the prolific commenting elsewhere. Take care. -Dan

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  3. Well said. :)

    I believe in the human potential and capacity. That within each of us there resides a genius and an idiot, a good and a bad, sanity and insanity. While we each have different "set points" it's what we do that matters.

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  4. I won't say much on the religion topic, but I think it's always a terrible thing when someone is killed pointlessly, whatever the cause. All of these victims, and the many many many others who have been injured or killed due to hatred, deserve much more recognition then they ever get, but only a few exceptions make major headlines.

    I think the difference in many cases is the sudden-ness, random-ness, and total loss of control in these situations. Unlike the child dying of cancer, who had time to make peace, plan, and (in some way) deal with it over a long period, the victims of hate crimes have little or no time. King in particular, almost instantaneous from what I can gather. No warning, no time to make peace, just there one minute, and a news headline a few seconds later.

    Anyway, I have no idea where I am going with this, so I should probably stop now.

    *hugs* to all

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  5. wise words Bob. thanks for writing this.

    torchy!

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