A TALE OF TWO TRAGEDIES: DYLAN ROOF AND BRYCE WILLIAMS

At some future point in the history of the United States of America, citizens will look back on the 21st Century and wonder, deeply, how the nation survived. I am simply a humble demon journalist; I make no claim of being an oracle. Scholars in that far future time I suspect will be less blinded by partisan political ideology, race and gender and will run a true rule over what took place in the first fifteen years of the century in which you currently live.

Having said that, and not as mere preface, I can say with certainty that there is only the most superficial differences in the hate crimes perpetrated this summer in South Carolina and the most recent one in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Dylan Roof was angry and mentally ill; Bryce Williams was also angry and mentally ill. Dylan Roof slaughtered people in a place where such violence was never expected; Bryce Williams did the same and used the technology of the day to document his slaughter.

There are times in history when events make it possible for the Truth to become something that is determined simply by perspective. A true metaphysician would understand that this is fallacy, but when people are bound, tribally, by how they feel they are perceived by those that are different from them, the “other” who has alien ways and whose appearance is markedly different, the possibilities of what is “true” become infinite. Nothing is more True than that above statement as it relates to the United States of America today.

To simply point out the obvious is not enough. As Editor-in-Chief of this newspaper in its digital form for one day short of ten years now I have striven to impress upon those who work here that simply reporting the news is not enough. Journalism, like life, should be more than the a quotidian rehashing of what happened and to whom. What is documented for history must lead to some hope, must show a forward looking vision of courage in the face of many obstacles– it must inspire people to do more than sit in their living rooms, go to their jobs and mate. The written words of my staff here in Hell were meant to inspire to anger, to joy– to do something to make the lives of those outside your family, your community your tribe, –better.

And so I come back to Dylan Roof and Bryce Williams and their murder. I was asked last night over dinner by a friend who I thought was the more evil of the two. Without hesitation and being a member of the Hellac Bar I said, “Williams,” without missing a beat. My friend, who is a Human Being, implored that this could not be the case. Roof, he explained killed nine while Williams killed only two. I replied, after sipping at my glass of warm spicy broth, “Williams committed suicide and did not allow himself to judged by man. Therefore his crime against his own Soul makes him more selfish than Roof.” I could see that my friend of many decades was growing angry so I calmed him in the only rational way I know how. “John,” I said, “I am speaking from my own prejudicial point of view here in the Afterlife as a demon. I cannot know what the life of human is like or what emotions pour through their nerves or pound in their hearts. About these things I can only observe and surmise. From what I have observed the damage done by Roof and Williams have touched many Souls and done great harm. Here in Hell they will be dealt with according to our laws. This is all I know.”

In closing, I feel I need to share a second conversation that I had after a planning meeting to celebrate our tenth anniversary of this blog which commences tomorrow. Our Majordomo, Pain and I met in my office in the early evening and talked about the events of the day, the waning season and the years all of us have been engaged at this attempt to shed some light on what the Afterlife offers for those who slip the bonds of your dimension to join ours. Midway through the conversation, as the topic turned to race relations in America, Pain intoned, “African-Americans who have not had the full benefit of consumer capitalism must make a choice between what they perceive as culture and Moral Success. By Moral Success, We, Ourselves, of The Collective, mean the ascension to a state where a person has by their actions, daily, must be respected. This is a person who excels at their work no matter what field that work is in. This is a person who is compassionate to those who needs help. This is a person who respects the law. This is a person who seeks this same level of success in the First Life for all those she or he knows. This is a person who respects people and their property. This is a person who craves knowledge above all and loves themselves. African-Americans can continue on the road they are on and the playing field in the American economy and society will never be leveled. Or, they can strive to become a Moral Success by ceasing to deal drugs, having a disdain for their Creator-given intellect and believing they are the victim descendants of horrors that were perpetrated against their enslaved ancestors. The chains of one physical type of slavery were broken in the 1860s, the social slavery of Jim Crown was broken by the 1970s; and now in the 2010s, African-Americans must break the last chain that binds them–that of a culture that makes incarceration more important than matriculation, felonies more important than fatherhood and ignorance of the wider world in the name of tribalism more important than the rabid pursuit of intellectual stimulation. They must do these things in the poorest neighborhoods where they live because– black lives do matter.”

Over the next few days, this newspaper will be publishing articles celebrating the diversity of our staff, highlights of the major stories we have covered in the last ten Terran standard years and, hopefully, making you think.

Qu’ul cuda praedex nihil!

Cavalor Epþiþ, Esquire, O.B.R.E., CS, O.D.A.J.[1er], O.Q.H.[Journ.], D.S.V.J., J.F.
Editor-in-Chief
The Dis Brimstone-Daily Pitchfork
114 Hov’ish 3 AS