Three Kids Die Senseless Deaths, Including Emily Keyes in Bailey, Colorado

Three young girls will never look into the smiling face of their own child. Will never feel the loving embrace of a husband. Will never smile happily while their grandchild plays and laughs at their feet. The question we all should be trying to answer is… 'Why?'

Emily Keyes, age sixteen, had her life taken while attending high school in Bailey Colorado. High school should be an environment for learning and developing social skills… a safe place. Not on September 27th, 2006. That day a fifty-three year old man decided to fulfill a deranged sexual fantasy before he committed suicide. He took Emily's life right before he took his own.

Ulla Tahir, age nine, never saw the face of the man that took her life. He was flying a plane thousands of feet over head, never seeing her smile or feeling her hugs, as he dropped bombs and finished his work for the day. Probably landed and topped the day off with a cold beer.

Athra Zughar, age twelve, was killed with her mother while shopping. Neither of them saw the man that took their lives'. He had planted a bomb in a car and parked it in an area full of women and children. Afterwards…. we can assume…. he partied and celebrated his great accomplishment.

Our children deserve better.

What has created a world where occurrences such as these can be part of the day-to-day affairs of men? Could it be a lack of true empathy?

The real tragedy in all of these young girls' deaths is that no matter how empathetic we try to be, we can never feel the loss and pain that their loved ones are going through. We read the stories and watch the networks as they try to communicate to the world what happened and why. They do their best - sometimes - to try and help us see the families suffering. They interview friends from school and neighbors who can talk without breaking down from grief. All in an attempt to… well to be honest, we can't be sure what the media's motives are. Ratings and money from advertisers play a part. If recent network history is examined closely, then the emotional story is often saved for the movie of the week.

For those of us who have lost someone special in our lives, the difference between a news story and reality is a million miles apart. When we hear or read a tragic story we often have a very emotional reaction. Some stories make us cry and some make us pray. After a moment's reflection and some water splashed in our face, we regroup and start worrying about this month's electric bill. If someone close to us dies we find it hard to breathe. We walk around half hearing conversations around us. Talking is difficult and disappears all together as our emotions take over. Those same emotions are out of our control for days, weeks, months, and sometimes years. A smell or familiar sound triggers bouts of tears that often leave us trembling in silent body wrenching sobs. If true empathy were to take hold of us, each time we hear of another families suffering, then in my opinion things might start to slowly change.

So how have human beings become so self centered? How is it we can tolerate atrocities without marching in the streets and demanding adherence to higher values? All of the world's great religions teach 'thou shalt not kill.' We have a Golden Rule 'Do unto others…' Is it truly natural selection at work or are we just too primitive to do any better? Maybe both. When you look closely at the systems man has in place to protect our children from the folly of their fathers (and mothers) they seem lacking when compared to the creativity of violent human behavior. Is this taught or is it instinctual behavior?

Looking at the religions of the world - where a lot of our emotionally anchored beliefs are taught - we find similar archetypes. We have God vs. Satan, Good gods and evil gods, yin and yang… ad infinitum. With the sometimes-extreme cultural differences from which these beliefs were realized, we still seem to agree on the fact that our reality has some good and some bad. Obviously then… bad will always be with us. Some of us believe that 'bad' is personified in a god-like being way up the consciousness food chain. A tough guy who is very hard to deal with and whom we will quickly give credit for the things that are so bad we can't even comprehend. Anyway bad stuff just has to happen… doesn't it? The good stuff will show up once your dead… right?

Here is another idea about how God may be tinkering with us.

Most archeologists believe that Cro-Magnon and the knuckle dragging Neanderthal coexisted for a short period in human history. The primary difference being the way they 'thought.' Cro-Magnon, considered to be the same species as modern man, was an adept artist, skilled toolmaker, and was the genesis of communication through the verbal arts. These skill sets allowed them to prosper while, their grunting cousins, the Neanderthals died out. What triggered the difference in gray matter functioning is open for debate and continues to be argued by much higher IQ individuals than myself. Personally, when I look out at the night sky, I have no logical reasoning to assume that we are the highest conscious intelligence the universe has to offer. Therefore my belief of divine intervention is as viable as the next prognosticator.

But wait a minute! If the only difference was their 'thinking' process, maybe that is the key. If only we could stop 'thinking' that bad things are always going to be a part of the human experience. We only use ten percent of our brain… what if we upped it to twelve or fifteen percent! What if we have children already that are 'thinking' differently? If - in the human mind - a life became more valuable than say… religious differences, one-hundred billion barrels of oil, or even some imaginary line drawn in the sand…what would life on this blue spinning ball be like?

What if there are children just waiting for the knuckle-draggers to die out? We can only hope.

Tonight when you listen to the news…stop for a moment and use what ever method you feel comfortable with…and ask the more intelligent part of our universe for a little DNA shove in the right direction.

Ask for a little help in changing the way we think so we can finally find the 'Why' and fix it. Please…for our children's sake.

Also:

The tragedy surrounding Emily Keyes and her family are more than most of us parents can even fathom. Losing a child is something no parent should ever have to bear. Please keep them in your prayers.

For information on Ulla Tahir and Athra Zughar please go to:

http://www.iraqbodycount.net

And read through the one hundred and sixty-four pages of victim's names. With forty thousand plus killed so far our focus, our intent, and our prayers need to stay vigilant.