By Sean Nolan
I asked this on my own blog, but my own blog is pretty much just me and some random folks here and there. And my point was about not giving the killer the attention that he craves. But since I wrote it the other day, my own perspective has changed. So why do we say his name?
In the past few days, I came to a realization. As much as we may hate it, Elliot Rodger was a gun owner. He purchased his guns legally. We might argue all day on why he shouldn’t have been able to. (How many red flags were raised? In California of all places?) Or we could argue why he should not have been stopped. (He hadn’t committed a crime yet.) But one thing, the base we must admit, is that he was a gun owner. We do not feel that this killer had anything in common with us. But the other side does. And they are still the same circling vultures they have always been, looking for that little bit of flesh to grab.
He wanted attention. That is why he did it, so why give it to him? I asked myself this and realized he is not getting the attention he wanted. He is not getting it for the reasons he wanted. Look at the comments section anywhere that he is being discussed. He is openly mocked about every aspect of his manifesto. He is the butt of every virgin joke being rewritten.
His victims deserve it more. The police who brought him to an end deserve it more. We should give them the attention and celebrity. We need to stop making the criminal famous. And I agree with that. In cases like Elliot Rodger, however, we need to make sure the world knows that he accomplished nothing. The loss of life is tragic, but it is not what he intended it to be. He wanted to be famous for being “The Alpha Male”. Well, to be blunt, that ain’t the fame he’s getting.
We say his name, because he was not one of us. His actions were not those of law-abiding, responsible gun owners. We say his name, because attention does need to be directed at him and his actions. We need the world to see that his plan failed in every aspect. We say his name, so that those who might emulate him will see that the result is a dead failure.
We say his name, because while he was a gun owner, he was not one of us.
Sean blogs at http://magdumped.blogspot.com.