Why

It's easy to hate Jeff Weise, the 16-year-old high school student who shot and killed nine people (including himself) on Monday. No words or superficial acts of comfort can do any justice to the families feeling those losses.

And while I would never beseech anyone to forgive such an atrocity, you have to ask yourself what makes someone so young and innocent so horribly miserable. We all know (albeit in a less intense way) what it is to feel alone. The feeling that no one loves you and that everyone thinks you're completely worthless. The feeling that you serve no purpose

Now imagine those feelings without the comfort of family or friends to bring you back to reality. Imagine your father dead from taking his own life. Imagine an unavailable mother having sustained permanent brain injuries. Of course you'd never do something so drastic as murder. You would be incapable of such an irrational action because you've grown up in a loving environment and can't possibly relate to Weise.

It's so easy to judge and point the blame when you've no idea what it is to be that miserable. Instead of perpetuating the disgusting hatred that fueled these horrific killings, imagine how Weise's life might have turned out had it been filled with compassion and love, not hatred.