Here We Go Again

Another "loaner" has gone off the deep end and gone on a killing spree before committing suicide himself. Now students are suspended for saying they can understand how some people snap like that, and socially awkward students are perceived as dangerous. It's Columbine all over again.

Don't get me wrong. I'm sad for the students of Virginia Tech who have to live with the experience for the rest of their lives, and I'm sad for the families that lost loved ones to this tragedy. I'm also sad that the shooter never got the psychological help he needed. But over the last six years, this country has gotten into the habit of infringing upon citizens' rights every time a tragedy occurs in an attempt to "keep this from ever happening again." And it's got to stop.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: freedom is difficult and comes with a price tag. It means that we have to tolerate people who are different from us, whether we like it or not. So what if the kid next door is a little "different" and writes dark stories? He might be the next Stephen King or M. Night Shyamalan, not the next Unabomber. We just don't know what's going on inside other peoples' heads, and it's not right for us to jump to conclusions and force everyone to be the same as everyone else. Do we really want to live in Stepford? I certainly don't.

We need to stop being afraid of our differences and re-learn to embrace them. Our acceptance of diversity is what used to make us great, and what turned us into a target for terrorism. If we retreat from diversity now, the terrorists win.