While most virtues are losing their regard in popular society, courage is still valued, and cowardice frowned upon. It is interesting to observe which current events are made all consuming for a moment, and then forgotten in a week, and which are more enduring, resulting in actual changes. The Valentine's Day shooting in Florida seems to be sticking around in the public consciousness, more so than other mass shootings in recent memory. This may be due to a few unique characteristics compared to most other recent shootings, that shed some light on how we very courage and cowardice.
Besides the tips that law enforcement ignored ahead of time, there were armed officers on scene during the event that didn't get involved. The one who was on site from the beginning of the event has already been removed from his position, but there are three other officers who are accused of arriving during the shooting and not engaging the shooter, who initially escaped the scene.
If reports are correct that the officers in Florida took cover outside during the shooting, that is one more result of the erosion of honor in our society. In trying to remove all forms of shame, we have lost honor in the process. Men used be more afraid of being a coward than of dying, but that doesn't appear to be true in this case. But the public reaction seem to be a sign that not all is lost in that regard. We still do view cowardice with disdain, and are looking to shame and punish those who exhibited it. This is the first time I can recall hearing of someone being removed from their position based on cowardice, and it will be interesting to see to what degree the other three are held accountable.
It is also interesting to observe the popular public reaction in regards to limiting access to guns to law enforcement triggered by an event that in reality highlighted exactly why we can't rely on law enforcement to be the only force available to react to these kinds of violent events. But the public is not known for being logical in their reactionary campaigns to current events. Which is why we need people who have courage to stand up for what is right as opposed to what is popular.
"We (demons) have made men proud of most vices, not not of cowardice. Whenever we have almost succeeded in doing so, the Enemy permits a...calamity, and at once courage becomes so obviously lovely and important even in human eyes that all our work is undone, and there is still at least one vice which they feel genuine shame." (C.S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters 30)
