My own bias towards law enforcement and media

I am gaining more perspective on the events of Monday, April 21 as mentioned in my post on Tuesday, April 22. I have had time to discuss the shooting that appears to have made a stronger impression on the community than I realized.

First, let me confess my own innate ability to utterly ignore or be ignorant of the feelings, opinions, beliefs, and/or misconceptions of the people around me. I tend toward righteous (I hope) indignation as my first response. After speaking with several people about the thoroughness of the investigation and the comprehensiveness of the media coverage, I think I have a greater appreciation for how the situation is being handled.

I never had any thought about avoiding the area where the shooting took place. I'm not sure how it didn't occur to me that some people would be a little more trepidatious to venture out for a good time so near the scene of an, as yet, unexplained attack. I never imagined that the discretion with which the other local business in the area were being treated, was actually in place to avoid labelling this up-and-coming neighborhood as a primarily gay area. And that avoidance is not completely unreasonable in light of the fact that there are some who might turn such a place into a barrel of fish and open fire. I'm still jusifying this behavior with my vision of in your face identity. I think back to stories I've hear of groups of gay men engaging in brutal fights with those who would dare to reproach them. A friend explained that he felt we've come a long distance in being able to be comfortable in public: hopefully far enough that we can avoid constant physical confrontations.

I'm also questioning my own tendancy to subscribe to some idea of the inherent incompetance of law enforcement organizations. I'm not sure if I'm just willing to leap to conclusions since this incident hit so close to home, or if my mistrust of governmental organizations is completely rampant after 7+ years of being lied to and manipulated. Ditto, my feelings on the media. Am I too quick to feel that there is inadequate coverage of a story I hold so dear, when there are constantly issues both under and misreported throughout America.

Finally, how do we treat these victims with the respect owed to fellow humans? I so easily jumped into the political implications behind this shooting. I did not take one moment to pray for their families and friends to be graced with God's peace and understanding. Where is the line between fighting against ideas and fighting for people?