The human heart is dying

On the way to work this morning, I heard a story on the radio about the deaths of two young teenagers who were setting off (illegal) fireworks in their backyard. At first, I figured that they had burned themselves to death in an accident, blown themselves up, or done something equally stupid to deserve their fate. Instead, I was appalled when I learned that these two young boys had been murdered. Apparently, their Fourth of July ruckus had aggravated one neighbor so much that the neighbor pulled out a gun and shot the boys dead.

Gun control has been under discussion for a while now, and regardless of the outcome, the use of guns depends solely on the perpetrator. Where has the humanity in the world gone when resolving a conflict begins and ends with murder? Humans are known for their relatively high levels caring, yet why do these random and senseless acts of civilian killing remind me less of humans and more of wild beasts? The aforementioned man could have easily taken his gun and scared the kids away with it, but instead, he decided to just shoot them. Who knows what future those two young boys had ahead of them. Who knows what wonderful life was ended due to pure senselessness and stupidity.

Then comes the story of a young woman stabbed repeatedly in a convenience store. Should one witness such an act, or come across the body of the woman, the normal instinct would be to call 911 and request emergency help for the victim. Instead, surveillance cameras show how five people just stepped over her, as if it were commonplace. One even stooped to take a picture with a cell phone, a cell phone that could have been used to call emergency services. Instead, the amateur photographer decided that he or she would just grab the milk and go. It took five human beings to view the young woman's dying body before one could muster up the heart to dial three numbers and get help. The woman died of her wounds in the local hospital.

And for those of you who are muttering "bloody Yanks" under your breath, it's not isolated in America. In Britain, a young black teenager, an excellent student in school, was beaten to death by a crowd of other teenagers and one 21-year-old man. Girls on the scene, in a remarkable move, egged the aggressors on. "Kill him! Kill him!" they yelled, adding fuel to the fire as the young man died.

It's brutal, this world, but I never imagined it to be this brutal. I had expected brutality to exist only in war and dark alleys, not in convenience stores and a quiet residential area in London. Charity has become more for show and politics than anything else, and the human heart is disappearing.

Maybe we need another flood.