Sinful or Sick?

Like many parents across America, I spent the weekend shielding my children from news about the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, even as I pored over reports that might offer some way to make sense of the horror. I saw comment after comment and post after post that tried to hone in on one aspect of this tragedy and from it craft a solution. There were the posts about increased gun control, that perhaps this mass murder can galvanize our politicians into another conversation about protecting the Second Amendment while also protecting our children from the senseless use of lethal weapons. Other writers and commenters looked to shooter Adam Lanza’s psyche to offer a reason for his crimes.

In “I Am Adam Lanza’s Mother,” Liza Long, the mother of a child with an undiagnosed mental illness, writes about the threat her son poses to his family and his community. Her post has gone viral, with over 900 comments and 680,000 Facebook shares. She concludes: “It's time for a meaningful, nationwide conversation about mental health. That's the only way our nation can ever truly heal.” In other words, mental illness is the problem, and increasing the social supports available to families will help prevent tragedies like last Friday’s.