If I could discard my moral code imprinted on me, and -- and this is key -- not think in terms of each of those numbers being real people, then I decided it would be easier. Once I thought of those numbers as grandmas and young parents like the people I know (like me too!) it makes the thought of doing such a thing impossible.
I wonder if the people who perpetuate such crimes are both computer gifted and completely detached from humanity because of it. Perhaps they can't personalize their crimes because their lives are spent playing video games and hacking into networks.
And that makes me think of all these kids who routinely murder video game characters and then go on to kill people in real life -- like this kid. Perhaps they can't humanize the people in the real world after casually killing people in their digital worlds.
In a completely unrelated line of thought, how about women who abort their babies? Without a sonogram, it's easier to de-personalize the "victim" -- but after a sonogram, a majority of would-be abortions are, well, aborted. This Washington Post article sourced a 2005 survey by Care Net which found that 72 percent of women who were initially "strongly leaning" toward abortion decided to carry their pregnancies to term after seeing a sonogram. Fifty percent made the same choice after counseling alone.
Read about the girl's story in that Washington Post article:
"As soon as I seen that, I was ready. It wasn't no joke. It was real," Makiba Smith, 16, said. "It was like, he's not born to the world yet, but he is inside of me growing."
In a world where people are more and more detached and isolated, we are all potential faceless victims. People who value life, respect it, and don't dehumanize it, will be much less likely to commit crimes against it.
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