Could you be a killer? Is the human race filled with murderers? If we were abandoned to our own rage, would we do others more harm than good?

The podcast is filled with humor and pathos about just this issue.

Transcript

The body was found this morning. Did I mention he was dead? Sometimes details get left out. I think you’d have to agree–dead is an important detail.

They have not yet determined cause of death–“they” being people who don’t mind dealing with clammy, former humans. But they are beginning to investigate, which brings us to you. Yes, you are the last person to see him alive. Well, that is, if you killed him. Then maybe you were the next to last person to see him alive. But they already want to know your movements. Where did you go after having that discussion with him? Was it a discussion or an argument? Did you threaten him? Honestly, did you privately wish he was dead? Because you know–he is.

Dead.

That becomes important to you because you didn’t like him.

Am I right? You thought he stunk. Not “nose stink.” Just overall a stinky mess. So of course, they’re gonna want to know what you did about that. They smile when you insist that you couldn’t kill anyone. That’s what every killer says.

Have you ever heard a killer speak up and report, “Since I’m a killer, I was well-prepared to handle this disagreement.”

Every murder is a decision to do something quickly to handle a temporary situation, which ends up being very permanent.

Could you do it? Are you capable? Do you have a weapon?

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Here is the evolution of mayhem:

We disagree.

We discuss.

We argue because we have other problems we haven’t worked out before. We decide to leave it in “disagreement.” I leave and seek allies. So do you. I’m astounded how many people agree with me–that you are an idiot. Likewise, you’re astounded how many folks think I am demented. Conversations ensue. Camps are selected.There has to be some way to distinguish your “good guys” from my “good guys” so we can find your bad guys and you can unrighteously call us evil.

Lines are drawn. Grudges are begun.

Disinclude.

Yes, disinclude.

You’re not allowed to buy from my store. And I don’t trust you “to do the following.”

One day some of the younger members of my troop lose their cool. A fight breaks out and our children return to us damaged, and one of them actually dies. Justice is required. And by justice we mean retribution. Finding the courts insufficient, we seek a battlefield. A war is declared. Because we are too old, we send our children–our promise–out to fight for us. They are killed, which makes us even more angry. Meanwhile, we keep people studying so more children can be made to continue fighting the war. Peace is suggested. We shake our heads. “Wouldn’t that be terrific? Too bad it’s impossible–because you’re a mother-fucking son-of-a-bitch.” We kill.

INSERT FROM WITHIN

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Everything was hiding from me, and if it wasn’t hiding from

The good news is, you are a killer but don’t have to be

The better news is, if you choose not to, gradually the killing instinct subsides.

About Author

Jonathan Cring

Our story is told from where we begin. For Jonathan Richard Cring, this was music. First he sang songs, played songs and then one day it occurred to him that he might like to write one. He actually wrote two that morning and rather enjoyed it. This opened the door to people recording his music, ending up in Nashville, Tennessee, with a contract. Having read a book, he had an itch to write one. The first one was small. It was called "The Gospel According to Common Sense." But fourteen books later, he has accumulated a considerable journal of his journey and heart. In the process, he had four sons and was godfather to three others. One of these young men wanted to be a filmmaker. Scripts were required, so Papa Cring wrote thirteen screenplays which ended up being produced into independent feature-length films which won awards at twenty-eight film festivals. While perusing websites for his movie career, Jonathan discovered blogs. He decided to write one and called it Jonathots Daily Blog. That was in 2008. Thousands and thousands of entries, which extended to additional blog categories--one called Jonathots, Jr.--pictures with euphemisms, and Words from Dic(tionary)--taking the Webster classic in its alphabetical order, and writing mostly comical essays on each word. Sitting around the table at Christmas time, his children encouraged him to begin a podcast. In 2018, he began one called Good News and Better News. It is a content-filled tongue-in-cheek look at American culture with the contention that life really doesn't suck. Bouncing off what has been done while discovering what is available has created the arc of the career for Jonathan Richard Cring.
Comments (1)

  1. Joel

    April 18, 2018 at 12:49 pm

    This episode and your previous one about slavery really got me thinking about the status of “culture” in people’s lives.

    It can be comforting to use culture as a shorthand for finding one’s place in the world. I think the problem arises when we use culture as a destination rather than a spring board.

    Lemurs have a culture–a long line of lemur parents and grandparents etc. stretching back through time. Lemur children play their role in the system, propagating the species and passing down their experiences, but they can never (evolution excluding) really be anything other than lemurs.

    Human beings, on the other hand, are blessedly unbound from the nature of our parents or our society, free to be whatever we choose.

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