Once again, innocent victims have been hurt or killed by someone who should have been stopped before he hurt anyone.  Once again, we mourn the death of people who did not deserve to die.  Once again, we are being blamed for it.

The father of one of the victims of Friday’s shooting in Santa Barbara has placed the blame for the tragedy on the National Rifle Association and others who believe in a citizen’s right to arms and do our part to defend it.  Again, we are hearing calls to further restrict that right.  Again, we are being asked why we need the guns we choose to own, and again we are being called to task for someone else’s actions.

There is a lot of blame to go around in this.  We could blame the police officers, who questioned the murdering scum several weeks ago, but were convinced that he was not a threat to himself or others.  We could blame his counselors and therapists, who did little to remove his  access to firearms after they became concerned about him.  We could blame his parents, who raised their son to be the monster that he turned out to be.

But they, along with the rest of us, should shoulder no blame for all this death and pain.

The only person I blame for the deaths, suffering, and chaos that has erupted is the self-aggrandizing, malevolent, spoiled, evil scum that committed these heinous acts.  No-one put those guns in his hands.  No-one forced his hand when he slid a knife into his roommates.  No-one pushed down on his leg to accelerate his car when he used it as a weapon to hurt the innocent.

No-one, that is, except him.  Reading his screeds and watching his videos, I do not see mental illness.  I see evil.  Calling him a disturbed young person gives him too much credit, and casts a pall on those who truly fit the description.  He was not troubled, or disturbed, or even insane.  He was evil.  He saw himself as better than other human beings, as the decider of life or death for the rest of us, and spewed his hate at those who denied him what he saw as his right:  the bodies and subservience of others.

To his memory, I can only say that the world is a better place without him.  I only regret that he decided to bring harm to the rest of humanity before taking the coward’s way out.

To the parents of those who were hurt or killed on Friday night, you have my sympathy and prayers.  I will not insult you by saying that I understand your grief and anger, because only someone who has had to look upon the corpse of their child can say that, and by the grace of God, I have never had to do that.  I will only ask you to consider that it was not the knife, or the gun, or the BMW that harmed your loved ones.  It was an evil, little man who did it.  His choice of tools to inflict harm are secondary to the manner in which he chose to use them.

To those who were hurt, but have survived, I pray for your healing and for you to find strength in the months and years to come.  You are blameless, and yet you suffer.  I hope that your suffering is short, and that you fully recover from your injuries.

To the parents of the bastard, I say this:  How dare you?  You raised up a spoiled brat who murderously lashed out at the world because he hadn’t gotten laid yet, and you point the finger of blame at me and those like me?  You should be the ones wearing sack cloth and ashes now, not me.  I did not create this monster, you did.  You should be on national television, on your knees, begging the parents and friends of his victims for forgiveness, not directing their ire at anyone but yourself.

To the media and the other vultures that have been drawn to the blood of the innocent in this and other tragedies, I hope that you can find someone to pray for your souls.   It’s obvious that to you no path is too low, too slimy, or too drenched in blood.

To the rest of us, please join me in praying that those who were injured may find healing, that those who mourn may find solace, and that the person who caused all this can find forgiveness in the eyes of the Lord.