The American Spectator

Print Email

Text Size

Another Perspective

(Page 2 of 2)

This is telling you that? You couldn't have figured that out before?

Perhaps the note could be interpreted to mean that his next targets will be children. Or it might just be to say that all of us -- children as well as adults -- are vulnerable.

Still, while it's understandable that parents are worried about their own children, it's slightly odd that in general we place children on a sort of pedestal. Children are merely future adults, after all. There is nothing special or intrinsic to children entitling them to any extra consideration in the eyes of the law, or even in the eyes of popular opinion.

Are the adults who have perished at the hands of the serial sniper any less deserving of our sympathy, or any less worthy of our grief? Were their murders any more sensible than the attempted slaughter of the 13-year-old student? That's the implication in Chief Moose's remarks. Killing a half dozen people is pretty bad, but shooting a child? Hey, now that's beyond the pale.

But exactly why is not clear.

All sorts of mysteries have arisen during the sniper spree. In time most probably will be solved, and we can go back to our normal existences. But this mysterious hypersensitivity to "the children," often at the expense of trivializing others' lives, probably won't. That's hardly a legacy we should leave our children.

topics:
Law