Without reason

Sometimes things happen for no reason whatsoever, they are genuinely random things. They just do, but something in human nature makes us demand to know "why?".

Actually, that's not true. We only want to know why when it's a bad thing. We don't spend ages wondering why it was that the £10 note was in the gutter, why it was you that happened to be there to find it and why not someone else. No, the need for reason is reserved for the awful.

The shootings in Cumbria are one of those diabolical news items that chills you to the bone, that makes you hug close your loved ones and shudder at the thought that something as random as that could happen to anyone, anywhere. It's horrible. The immediate thought is as to why the perpetrator couldn't have taken his own life without the shootings of other people first. But we cannot ever know why, and to dwell on it is unhealthy. Justice cannot prevail, for the man is dead.

I read a blog just now as to the reason we need to know why, for peace of mind. It states that different explanations as to why will help other people find peace. And that religion will be of great help to many.

I have issues with that.

It is unexplainable; any explanations are made up. We cannot know why he did it. What possible purpose is there in surmising invented motivations?

It doesn't affect most people. It didn't happen to them, their loved ones are safe. The grief and suffering by those who were affected is none of our business. Other people would have died outwith Cumbria yesterday, some of them horrifically. Their loved ones will be devastated just as much, but will be allowed to grieve in their own way, privately.

There's a disgusting hierachy of death and how sad it is. Really, the only factor relevant is how the deceased relates to you, and I don't believe for a moment that the way in which they died makes it easier or harder to deal with. Had your loved one been gunned down in Whitehaven, would that have been worse than if they had been run over in Kendal? Or killed in Afghanistan? Or died of natural causes?

I'm not for a moment suggesting that the shootings are other than devastating, don't get me wrong, but there's something slightly sickening about the mass claiming of grief. Having seen the effect the shootings in Dunblane had on a community, it's utterly wrong to presume any level of understanding.

And religion? How? Did God not like the gunman and his victims? How can religion explain that?

There's no follow up news. The man is dead, there should be no ongoing investigation or justice. We can't know why and we have no business to make up possible reasons. The loved ones of the victims need to be left alone to cope.

NB I do know his name. I am not recording it.