Inspired
by the
Baha’i Faith
The views expressed in our content reflect individual perspectives and do not represent the official views of the Baha'i Faith. The official website of the Baha'i Faith is: Bahai.org. The official website of the Baha'is of the United States can be found here: Bahai.us.
GOT IT
The views expressed in our content reflect individual perspectives and do not represent the official views of the Baha'i Faith.
How do I become Baha’i?
Life

An Alternative Approach to Prevent Mass Shootings

Badi Shams | Aug 20, 2019

The views expressed in our content reflect individual perspectives and do not represent the official views of the Baha'i Faith.

Interested in Other Topics?

We’ve got something for everyone.
Badi Shams | Aug 20, 2019

The views expressed in our content reflect individual perspectives and do not represent the official views of the Baha'i Faith.

“There was another shooting today,” a teacher friend of mine said. “What about writing an article relating to these terrible tragedies?”

My field is economics, so I initially felt hesitant—but I reminded myself about the many years I worked in the school system, where my first and foremost responsibility was protecting my precious students from the usual dramas and bullying. 

I told my friend that I would try, so this is my attempt to share what’s in my heart about these horrible mass shootings. 

At the outset, I admit that I don’t have all the solutions. I’m uncomfortable even tackling the subject, due to its explosive and political nature, the polarization of emotions it evokes and especially my personal experience with violence. Also, as a Baha’i, I will not insert myself into the party politics that have become so tied up in this issue. 

But these horrific killings must stop, so we need to start somewhere.

We have to remember these mass shooters—these killers of children—did not come from the moon or some other planet. These disturbed individuals were and are our kids, our students, our neighbors, our cousins, even our friends. Many of them were almost invisible to us, but yet they existed, and most of us missed the signs of their struggles. We failed to see how ill-equipped they were to deal with the realities around them, and as a consequence, we did not help them. Instead, we shunned them, disenfranchised them or ignored them.

As you can already see, I want to take a self-examining approach to the problem instead of pointing the finger at the usual people and organizations. Rather than looking elsewhere, let’s look at ourselves first. I believe we spend very little time exploring our own roles in this crisis, and consequently, we don’t do enough to discover how we can empower ourselves and others to help to avoid these tragedies from happening. 

We can all do things that may lead to preventing more disasters. We can pay attention to those who are ignored or bullied or ostracized, we can show them that we care, we can build alternative activities that allow them some respite from their negative environments, we can connect them to positive, welcoming people and courses and group activities. For example, we can connect them with Baha’i youth activities that focus on spiritual and moral education and on serving the community. There are countless things we could do if we cared enough and loved enough.

The Baha’i teachings ask us to love everyone, because God in His wisdom knows that love is the real solution. Abdu’l-Baha, who exemplified love all his life through his actions, said:

Love gives life to the lifeless. Love lights a flame in the heart that is cold. Love brings hope to the hopeless and gladdens the hearts of the sorrowful. In the world of existence, there is indeed no greater power than the power of love. – Paris Talks, p. 179.

When I worked in the educational system, I had some sleepless nights worrying about some of the kids I knew, who were so full of anger and frustration that I was afraid that they might do some harm to themselves or others. Many staff members in just about every school have felt these experiences. 

You might ask: Why were those students so hurt and angry? I would say because they were not getting enough love, care and attention. Most of them were deeply lonely, believing strongly that nobody understood them or cared about them. They craved love, but what they were getting was anger, punishment and disciplinary rules that aimed to set them right without addressing the root cause of their problems.

However, I am not trying to portray mass shooters as victims. I am fully aware that some had serious issues and needed professional help. Yet, in some ways, they too are, like you and I, victims of a disease that we all are subjected to, and that is living in societies where we don’t receive enough love and understanding. I call the cause of this disease vitamin L deficiency—the absence of love. In most cases, the essentially spiritual remedy of love can work much more effectively than many other legal prevention solutions. 

Alternatively, we could arm more guards to protect our schools, shopping malls and public places; we could install metal detectors everywhere, we could do more body searches to confiscate weapons—but since those things aren’t very practical or effective, ultimately I wish we would spend our time and resources on how, as a society, we can reach out to those angry and hurting individuals before they do something wrong. 

How can we, as human beings, lessen the emotional burden of people breaking down under the pressure of life’s problems which will lead them to an awful path, and guide our children into grave danger? The Baha’i teachings say we can take action to truly begin to address that Vitamin L deficiency so many people suffer from: Love manifests its reality in deeds, not only in words—these alone are without effect.” – Ibid., p. 36.

If we cared for and loved all human beings, and did so with deeds rather than words, I believe many of those disturbed, angry shooters might choose a different path. I know this well since I witnessed the drastic change that love and caring made for many of my own students, who I honestly thought might do some harm. In all my years of dealing with troubled kids, I learned to look beyond their anger and bad behavior and all the negative barriers they put up in order not to get hurt—because behind all that hostility was usually a scared little person crying out for attention, who just wanted to be accepted and loved like we all do.

So we can take the usual route of blaming our governments for lack of proper gun control, or gun makers, or violent video games and all the rest of the players in this sad affair, but I strongly suggest we first look at ourselves and accept some of the responsibility, then resolve to befriend the sad, the alienated and the potentially explosive. 

By being aware of our own potential power as a preventive agent in these mass shootings, combined with proper legal prevention measures and reasonable safety precautions, we can dream of a day when these tragedies will be nothing but a bizarre footnote in a very sad and dark period of human history.

You May Also Like

Why You Should Always Do Your Best: The Fourth Agreement
Life

Why You Should Always Do Your Best: The Fourth Agreement

5 Ways to Make 2019 a Really Happy New Year
Life

5 Ways to Make 2019 a Really Happy New Year

Love and Service: A Match Made in Heaven
Life

Love and Service: A Match Made in Heaven


Comments

characters remaining
  • William Bender
    Aug 25, 2019
    -
    Very appropriate and insightful!
    • Badi Shams
      Aug 27, 2019
      -
      Thank you William.
  • Chuck McKenna
    Aug 23, 2019
    -
    One thing the mass shooters usually have in common is that they have had no active fathers in their lives. It seems if we could address that somehow other than abortions on demand, it might be a good start. And with respect to arming or having more security, the shootings happen the most where the potential victims don't have guns or where the laws are extremely restrictive. In a place where there are over 300,000,000 guns, we won't be getting rid of them. Not at all.
    • Badi Shams
      Aug 23, 2019
      -
      Good observation Chuck, That indicates a lack of guidance and fatherly love.
  • Manuel Benitez
    Aug 21, 2019
    -
    Very good indeed, your article hits the target...congratulations
  • Steve Eaton
    Aug 20, 2019
    -
    What a terrific article.
  • Chris Badostain
    Aug 20, 2019
    -
    So well written Shadi. I read somewhere that the gunman that was responsible for the garlic festival shootings was asked by someone, "Why are you doing this?" and his reply was, "I am very angry." Did that get any airtime except for that brief blurb? Was any person that was talking in the media inquiring about from where would such anger come? I don't believe so. The solution has been reduced to gun control and meds---a pathetic response indeed. . . however, Baha'u'llah is the salve if we open our hearts and minds to His "sovereign remedy."
    • Badi Shams
      Aug 20, 2019
      -
      Dear Chris, Thanks for sharing that. That proves the point. Do not worry about the name spelling.
    • Chris Badostain
      Aug 20, 2019
      -
      sorry about the incorrect name, Badi!
  • Norberto Feliberty Jr.
    Aug 20, 2019
    -
    Very informative and well written. Not many people look at it in the way the author of this article sees the problem and perhaps if we all would apply these suggestions, maybe it would make a huge difference.
  • Aug 20, 2019
    -
    Creative in thought and unique in style. I always look forward to reading your articles and this one really impressed me. It is challenging and far from simplistic but you nailed it. Thanks Badi
    • Badi Shams
      Aug 20, 2019
      -
      Dear Patricia, Thank you. You are too kind.
  • Nancy Howard
    Aug 20, 2019
    -
    A very excellent article that was thoughtfully written with some excellent suggestions. I am a retired teacher who ended up her career as a teacher's aide to avoid the politics of our school district. Every morning I would go into the kindergarten classroom where I worked and said prayers of protection for my class and all the students in all the schools. I also prayed for courage for myself and all the adults in the schools that we would do our best to protect the children from any danger. And I especially tried to listen and ...help the students that were "loners". These mass shootings break my heart, and in this article we have some concrete suggestions to help. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
    Read more...
    • Badi Shams
      Aug 20, 2019
      -
      Thank you dear Nancy. I am glad that you relate to it.
x
x
Connect with Baha’is in your area
Welcome!
What's your name?
Thanks my friend ! We want to connect you with a Baha’i in your area, where would that be?
Thank you so much! How can they best reach you?
To put you in touch with a Baha’i in your area who can answer your questions, we would like to kindly ask for a few details about yourself.
Connect with Baha’is in your area
Connect with Baha’is in your area
Get in touch with the Baha’is in your community.