I won't become the thing I hate. I won't become you.

I almost used this song in my last entree when I talked about the shooting at Pulse in Orlando, Florida. Alas, there has been another shooting, and I think it is finally time to use this song. It's called "The Thing I Hate" by Stabbing Westward.

As mentioned above, there was another shooting. This one was in Dallas, Texas. Due to how close it was to me, it hit me really hard, so it took me a week to gather my thoughts into a coherent message.

At a peaceful Black Lives Matter rally in downtown Dallas, a lone shooter, from an elevated location, opened fire on Dallas police. He shot intentionally at police, especially white police. He killed 5 cops and injured 7 more. 12 men and women who only wanted to help others. 12 men and women who, despite knowing the risks, put on that badge every day and risked their life for the betterment of those who can not or will not do the same. Almost half of them paid the ultimate price; those very lives they risked on a daily basis.

In the end, he got trapped by police. Even trapped, out gunned, and out numbered, he refused to give himself up, so the police put a bomb on a robot, drove the robot close enough, and detonated the bomb, killing the terrorist. Yes, just like the man who shot up the Pulse night club, and the man who shot up a theater in Aurora, Colorado, and the man who went into Sandy Hook Elementary, this man who shot 12 police was a terrorist. I feel no regret for his death.

What I do feel is anger, and this song is good at expressing the rage that I feel every time I think about this. I imagine it's the same rage he felt after the other shootings, by police, that occurred last week. It burns white hot, and I can understand how that rage might drive a man to perform evil deeds, wrongly thinking that not only are those deeds justified, but that they are the only path available to a person.

We all have things that make us furious. Events that make us see nothing but red. However, what we do with that rage is up to us. We always have options. We could take the path of self-righteous indignation and go on a shooting spree, justifying it as vengeance. That is a lie, though. There is no vengeance in killing innocent people. That is only murder. We could sit in our own little worlds, pretending nothing is wrong. Bury our heads in the proverbial sand and hope things will get better. They won't unless people step up to make things get better, though. Ignoring the problem is a cowards way out. Another option is to step forward, be a force for good, do what we can to make things better. For some, that might be joining the police force. After all, the Dallas Police Chief said they are always hiring and will happily take anyone who wants to make things better. For some, that might mean go on peaceful rallies, calling for change.

I can't do those things, so I do what I can. I can spread my thoughts. Put into words how I feel, try to talk people into seeing things in a better light. There is power in words, and that is where my personal power lies. So, I stand up, and I say, "I won't become the thing I hate. I won't become you."

Here's a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZS6578SySs