Soulshiner wrote: The Columbine memorial reminds me that two maniacs walked into a HS and shot and killed people. It is a reminder of their actions, not a reminder of the victims and their lives.
Have you been there? It focuses on the victims and their lives.
It is there because two maniacs walked into a HS and shot and killed people. It is a reminder of that. In the end, everyone remembers the murders and not the victims. Can you name any of John Wayne Gacy's victims without looking it up on google? Jeffery Dahmer? David Berkowitz? Richard Ramirez? Scorpio? Mohammed Atta? Dylan Klebold?
If I had relatives that were killed by any of those mass murders, I would not want a memorial that serves as a reminder of the senseless, random act of violence that some psychopath who wanted to be famous perpetrated on them. Any time a memorial like that is built, it serves the murderers desire to go out in a blaze of glory and fame.
When you plant ice you're going to harvest wind. - Robert Hunter
No, and I can't name a single victim of Timothy McVeigh. But I still believe the victims should be honored, for that very reason. We should never forget.
It is far easier to remember the name of one person than of multiple people. I do remember the names of some of the victims of the Fairchild AFB shooting far easier than that of the perpetrator...but that is my choice. I will always remember the name of the young airman who shot the perpetrator before he could kill more people.
The perpetrators, if not killed during the perpetration of their crime, will be named in the news for many months after the crimes...what with all the trial publicity and then depending on their sentence, it'll still carry on. It is news and makes the media money.
Make the memorial about the victims and only about the victims. Those that chose to only remember the name of the killer...well, that is their choice.
