All these mass murders / murder-suicides

Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim

Salaam Alaikum wa Rahmatullah

The new stories are coming hard and fast now. Every day, every single day, there is a story about a mass killing. Many of the stories have similar details; Dad is in debt, loses his job or can’t sell a house, so he kills his wife and children and then kills himself. The latest story on CNN was about a guy who was in debt to the tune of almost half a million dollars. He made almost a hundred thousand a year, yet he couldn’t manage to support his family on that. He murdered his three children and wife, then killed himself with a shotgun. I guess there’s some small comfort in knowing the taxpayers will be saved the cost of a trial.

People who resort to murder and suicide are people without guidance. Stress, depression, mental illness – all these play a part. But a person who truly believes in God can never feel hopeless, even in the face of poverty. Stuff is just stuff. Your family is still your family whether you are living in a mansion or a trailer, whether you eat lobster or Ramen noodles. If you take this coward’s way out, you will deprive yourself of being with your family in the Hereafter. Hell is a very lonely place. Just stop. Just stop and think about the worst that could happen.

What’s the worst that could happen? You could end up living in the basement of your brother-in-law’s house, or you could be a family of five in a crappy apartment. You might have to don the uniform of a fast-food restaurant. Your kids will go to public school and might have to wear clothes from a thrift store. Dinner will be Hamburger Helper. Sucks, right? Well, yeah, but you’re alive. You are together. Life may suck for a year or two, but if you buckle down you can survive and even thrive. You may never make it back to the heady heights of 64-inch plasma TV’s, Escalades, and private schools, but you can carve out a simple but decent life for yourself and your family. You won’t lose your family’s love if you have a financial crisis; you will lose your soul if you slaughter those innocents and then off yourself.