Each of us at BateWorld and The BatorBlog are deeply saddened by the tragic and senseless violence at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida over the weekend. We recognize the unique, irreplaceable lives and voices who have been lost or injured, the impact on their families, friends, and loved ones, and the damage it’s inflicted on an entire community both local and international.
During this time of mourning we encourage those who are grieving to express their anger through acts of kindness, empathy and generosity to others, to create positive change and protection for the vulnerable. Negativity towards other communities that are also hurting because of hatred from one deranged individual will do nothing but further rend divisive wounds that all of us must take responsibility to help heal. This is a time to find common ground through empathy, love and compassion for others, and that’s the only way forward to a positive future.
We stand in solidarity with the victims at Pulse. Hate and violence will not silence the voices of equality around the world, it will only make us more committed to expressing our love.
United we stand for peace, compassion, and equality for all.
How to Help the Victims of the Pulse Orlando Nightclub Shooting
#OrlandoUnited: How to Donate to Help Victims of the Orlando Nightclub Shooting
Where to Find a Vigil to Remember the Lives Lost in the Orlando Terrorist Attack
Orlando. Lots of the usual rhetoric in the media about this being a religiously inspired “Act Of Terror” and an “attack upon us all” etc. All nonsense, of course. This was an act of pure hatred directed specifically against homosexual people, metered out by a man who felt his cock twitch when he saw two men kissing in Miami and who himself had used a gay chat app’.. Disgusted by his own homosexual inclinations, having been raised in a home where (as his father stated) “it is for God to punish homosexuals”, Omar projected his own self hared onto the gay community. Of course, he found solace for his hatred in the demented ideology of “So-Called-Islamic-State” and others. But he didn’t do this for a cause, for his Islamic “brothers” in the Middle East. He didn’t even understand their ideology . He agreed with jihadist groups that oppose each other! No, Omar did what he did because he hated gay people because he hated his own homosexual impulses. He was what psychiatrists call an Ego-Dystonic Homosexual. He was what I call a sad little prick of a man who’s own pitiful self hatred led him to callously murder 49 innocent people in the name of a conveniently hateful religious ideology. I should pity him because his life has been a pitiful waste. But what he has done is hot pitiful. Its deplorable. At the moment, I’m afraid that he makes me wish there really were a Hell, just so he could burn in it.
Having ignored the news over the weekend, I logged on here Sunday night and as usual had a very good time. Monday morning I heard on the radio the reports of what happened and had very mixed feelings about having jerked off among virtual friends in ignorance of relatively loca (and very painful) events. Returning to the site tonight, I was pleased and grateful to see this posting from the BatorBlog editors (writers?), because it reinforces that being/doing/acting/thinking/feeling *how we are* is all part of a generalized expression of comfort, well-being, joy, self-expression, and (self) love. It’s very hard to hate in response to so much violence, loss, and pain. I’m still not so sure how I feel or what I think, but to feel good, to connect (even online), to share pleasure–none of these are selfish or mean-spirited or hurtful, and none are connected to the discourse and actions that we’re currently witnessing (and sometimes reacting against). Let us try to be better, always, and for everyone.
It is hard for me to feel much pride right now since the person who did this might turn out to have been one of us. Should this prove to be the case, the irony and contradictions would keep psychologists and sociologists busy for years. Whose fault is it that he could find no way to understand himself or his own nature? Who is responsible for setting up a system where access to weapons by a person so angry and bitter and self-hating is so easy? The fault brutus lies not in our stars but in ourselves to butcher Shakespeare…we need to look inside our so-called culture and society and heal ourselves. Handwringing and breast beating and praying will not fix any of the underlying problems that nobody wants to really examine much less solve.