Another Tragedy Soon to Be Behind Us

Soon the tragedy will drop from the news cycle. After that, will you ever catch yourself thinking again about the meaning of James Holmes? How many times have you already heard, “There must never be another event like this"? Pretty obvious, but one question should not go away: why do conspicuous red flags like those in the Holmes case go unrecognized or ignored?

Everyone wears masks. Every person you come in contact with today will keep uncomfortable aspects about him or herself hidden from you. The fact should not produce paranoia, but neither should it be taken lightly.

Masks are unavoidable; a functioning society depends on citizens who do not act out their darkest impulses. The problem is that, in some ways, we are more dependent on falsehood than we care to admit. A promising student "suddenly" shoots up a movie theater, seemingly happy marriages "suddenly" end in divorce, the friendly neighbor down the street "suddenly" commits suicide, riots "suddenly" break out in peace-loving Seattle.

Why do such events shock us? Because the unspoken agreement of virtually all our social interactions is: at all costs, avoid uncomfortable conversations. “I didn’t want to hurt their feelings... It’s none of my business... I'll lose my job... Don’t rock the boat... Who am I to judge?” Our everyday language is filled with the habitual slogans of willful ignorance.

Thus, those who are truly evil - “The People of the Lie,” in Scott Peck’s insightful phrase - do their deeds under the radar until some shocking event forces the blindfold from our faces.

Charles Manson, O.J. Simpson, David Brame, Nidal Malik Hasan, Jared Lee Loughner: Why do their names still haunt the most thoughtful among us? The same question can be asked about Sept. 11, or dozens of other events that “shocked” us, then quickly became yesterday’s news. We know that it is only a matter of time before the next surprise eruption of violence. If we have the courage to look into our own habits, we know something else: we know that we avoid speaking up or acting against smaller evils when we notice them, when they still can be corrected with relatively conventional resources. Therefore, to one degree or another, we are complicit in the next shocking headline. That is an extremely uncomfortable idea. Who among us has the courage to chew on it for a while?