In the discussion hosted on the air by Showtime after the showing of “Bang, bang, you’re dead”,  someone said that “we need feeling detectors rather than metal detectors”.  The ultimate preventative steps is to value the sanctity of humanity,  and to work toward the nurture of a safe place to BE,  for ALL.  

My own life-changing, “conversion” experience came in context of feeling very deeply immersed in a close-knit, caring group of peers,   who happened to be my Youth group.  I have experienced what it means to feel that I am not a popular person,  and also what it means to feel that I am.  It is important for us to be able to see from one experience into the other.  To see hope that someone will reach out to us and take us in and know something of our essence,  and to be able to reach out from a place of advantage to the ones who suffer something of what we have experienced when we have felt outcast; unloved. 

It goes for life after school as well.  When we move into the workplace,  and in relationships with others,  and in our relationships as people in a world community.  One of the school bullies called Trevor (the troubled youth inthe story) a “terrorist”.  The story called us to live for a while in the world of the experiences of the ones who strike back.  While it is not a proper response to strike back with violence,  it is an eye-opener for us to see the ridicule that precipitates the revenge.  The more extreme the reaction,  the deeper the injury that has given energy to that reaction.  For me,  this is the grave mistake in considering pre-emptive action against Iraq.   It is simply a continuance of previous actions that show a lack of caring.