Community needed after ‘Dark Knight’ shooting
We are a misunderstood people. People think we dwell in our parents' basements, eating Cheetos in front of our computers. They think we are loners, socially maladjusted recluses who never go out into the sun and only communicate through the Internet.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Ours is a bright and active community, full of a diverse mix of people from every walk of life who happen to be united by the love of an activity. Some of us play games, some of us read comics, some watch cartoons or like to go outside and hit each other with foam swords. We take them all.
We were attacked in the early morning hours on Friday. A psychopath walked into a theater full of geeks and opened fire. Twelve dead. Fifty-eight wounded. A nation shocked and saddened by the sheer insanity of it all. Hundreds of lives shattered by the loss or injury of loved ones.
Perhaps the victims thought of themselves as geeks, perhaps not. But there, in that theater, they were one of us, at least in spirit. Geekdom is about the shared experience and they were there to share a movie about a comic book hero. So, we will embrace, mourn and defend them.
Defend them, because we are attacked for our geekdom. We are a common target of Christian groups who think we practice witchcraft or Satanism. Outsiders who would rather judge based on misconception than see the evidence for themselves have damned us for our hobbies. They picket our conventions, poison potential geeks using fear tactics and attempt to silence us. We will not be silenced.
Westboro Baptist Church plans to attend the funerals of several of the Aurora victims, spreading their hate and inflicting further pain upon the families of the fallen. We will not allow this to happen. This is not the first time we've clashed with Westboro; they picketed ComicCon with their messages of hate and false Christian values. We countered with humor and love because we accept all within our ranks.
The geeks will not counter-picket this time, because that would disturb the serenity that the families so desperately need right now. A wall of geeks, several of them friends of mine, plan to stand as a shield for the families, so that they can have peace in their time of mourning.
There will be a time to assign blame for the massacre. There will be a time to question our gun policies. It has already started, but now is not the time for this to happen.
Now is the time to mourn the dead and remember who they were. An Air Force reservist. Two Navy men. A sports reporter who survived a shooting in Toronto only two months earlier. A man who died protecting the woman he loved. A six-year-old girl out with her dad.
All geeks, if only for a single night. That label is inclusive, not isolating, and it makes them part of a community that will never forget their loss.
More Like This
Use of death penalty inherently risky
By Kathryn Duggan | April 2, 2013
Government needs to invest in America
By Scott Horn | Dec. 4, 2012