ATSers , does it get you down sometimes

This has most probably been posted plenty before . But tonight ATS kind of got me down . The sergeant in NY that is accused of remotely cultivating a one year old for his perverted sexual desires has finished me. Well at least for tonight . I started reading the post and gave what i would consider some good ideas to stop this happening again . But ideas wont help this baby or of any of the children that are being abused at this very minute , The only thing i can do is .Well ,what can i do. Be aware people , let us try to stop this happening to our kids . If anyone reads this please look after your kids , tell them you love them .I am just i dont know anymore . Shame on you god.

a reply to: hutch622

No stars please and no flags .A topic such as this it just doesn't seem appropriate

That action by the sergeant was not an act of god. It was a disturbed person who did that.

This kind of stuff happens , it is not right though. We have to worry it does not happen to our own and leave those that are effected by this particular action deal with their own. I think this man should go to prison if found guilty by a jury. I have seen more than a few false allegations on things like this before, so I will trust in our legal system to judge this particular issue.

It's not just ATS that gets you down sometimes.... It's life in general. And yes. It happens to me and many others I know as well. Just when you think you have seen the end all, be all of the evil people can do someone also pops out of the woodwork to top it.

It helps to think that there are more good people on this world than bad. You hear about the bad people because that is what sells on the news. Nobody tunes in to watch a family celebrate anything together, or someone that turned in some valuable found property. No. They tune in to see the Casey Anthonys, the Ted Bundys, the DC Snipers, etc. the more gore the more the ratings soar it seems.

Right now in households all across America (aNd the world for that matter) people are getting their children up (or putting them to bed) and ready for school. They have made sure they have been fed, bathed, and clothed.... But have also made sure that they read that bedtime story, checked under the bed for monsters, kissed the cheek of a child who slept in the innocent peace that all is right in their world at that moment in time.

You can't save the world, but you can work on making it better and your children by proxy may one day be able to do just that. How amazing is that thought.

I do share your concern as I am a mother myself. It's hard not to become jaded, but it is possible. Grieve a little but hold your head high and know that you are doing what you can while millions more are doing and thinking the exact same thing you are right now.

Yes, ATS gets me down quite a lot, so does this thing we call 'life'.
Everyone has an opinion and I get sick of it sometimes, even my own.
When I feel like that I will come away from ATS for a bit but I can't get away from life.
I love my boys but I don't love the society they will grow up in.
Sometimes I think it would be best for Planet Earth if we were ALL eradicated permanently.
......Idk....

You are not alone, it has gotten me down at times as well. Stick around long enough and there are some pretty deep and dark paths that occasionally pop up. To help find some perspective to it, Earth has been a dangerous place for a very long time. Overall there is a good and moral majority of people that do the right thing, unfortunately there are a few that have a brain fart from time to time.

A while back, I got so tired of the deluge of bad news, I took a break from ATS for several weeks. I was not depressed, just tired of constantly being pissed off at seeing the worst of humanity. When I came back, I browsed through old threads, read what sounded interesting and let the rest go. Nothing had changed, the world was still going to end on [ pick a date ], people were still "channeling" aliens and God was still pissed. ATS is a place where you see the worst of what's going on in the world, whether it be politics, religion or abusive police and it's never going to change.
If it's gettin' you down that bad, I recommend a break. We'll be here when ya get back.

The longer you stick around the worse it gets. I left last April and came back recently because someone emailed me a link to the BerenSTEIN bears thread. Nothing has changed but the several month break definitely made me less angry. Spend too much time here and you end up wanting to figuratively stab yourself or someone else in the face.

Yes... very much so.

Sometimes I read things I never thought I would read. I mean that in a number of ways... sometimes, it's been my lack of understanding on something... then I finally understand and I feel so dumb, or tricked, or helpless. Sometimes I read things I can't believe can be true, and I sit on the thread waiting for someone to debunk it and it turns out... it's true. That evil of that extreme DOES exist. Worst of all, that I have to raise my children in the same world as such evil. I've taken extended breaks from ATS before, specifically while pregnant just to save myself the tears and heartache that come from some of the flare ups that can happen on this forum, but for the most part I do believe knowledge is power... even if that knowledge makes you want to cry sometimes.

I have found that once I am upset over something there is a pretty quick transformation that happens. I get down, I get depressed, but I slowly start to learn more, I start to arm myself with knowledge and that knowledge starts to make everything a little more tolerable. Eventually I will steel myself against whatever topic is causing me distress... some sooner than others... some I still have not been able to wrap my head around, and some I probably never will... but those are the kind of evil that I would never want to understand. With those, I hold my children tight and smile, thankful that they are too young to be worried with such knowledge, and focus on how to equip them with the right tools to face this scary world one day.

For years pedophilia was in the dark. No one spoke of it. Children mostly suffered in silence. I see hope, things are changing. More and more light is being shed on this issue and light drives out evil. Threads like this, articles like the one you mention OP, they all make us look and see. We need to look and see no matter how hard, this is the only way we will ever stop this.

ATS can be a hard place. Sometimes ugly, if we do not own it, we cannot change it.

I used to "get down" after reading ATS, so I'd leave for a while and then come back, feeling refreshed. Sometimes my breaks lasted for many months. But after being back for a few weeks, the cycle would start over again. I don't know how many times I've taken a break. I advise that highly.

But now, I've come to a point that I don't let it get to me in the first place. I accept ATS for what it is. Just information. What I do with it is my responsibility. How it affects me is up to me. I have come to the point that I don't let stories or interactions with others upset me anymore. It took a while (and many "breaks") but I finally feel that I can have a healthy relationship with ATS. I get frustrated every once in a while, but I can easily bring myself back to being grounded.

I think this is an important subject, because, as you can see, you're not alone...

a reply to: hutch622

ATS does not get me down. The news does not get me down. Human beings, and their base, and petty desires and actions, those get me down. ATS however, fills me with hope more often than not. It is not because the news reported here, and the topics discussed are all sugar and fairy dust, because truly, they are not.

ATS fills me with hope, because although the subject matter being discussed ranges from the bizarre, all the way to the downright awful, ATS provides a platform to forearm ourselves about what is really happening out in the world. There are few places, in the physical world, or indeed the virtual one, where truth of any kind is available.

Now, with specific regard to the information which bought you to this despondent place in your head. Of course you react this way when faced with such terrible news, that is only natural. It shows the best elements of your humanity, that you can respond in this way to such awful news, that your cynicism has not overtaken you to the point where you expected as much, and were unsurprised, unmoved.

That any of us can still summon indignation against the ills facing society is a blessing, and that we can share our torment together and have each others backs a little during the emotional fall out is too.

That particular story however, is a bloody disgrace against the species, and I hope the perpetrators of any similar crimes are fed a steady diet of bricks to the face until they die from it.

a reply to: [post=18609527]TrueBrit[/poit

Firstly this is not only a reply to TrueBrit but to all the replies .I am sure there is a way to link them all but unfortunately at this stage i don't know how . The reason for not individually replying to all is twofold . The replies would kind of be mimicking one another and secondly the subject cuts a little bit close to the bone . The post subject line could also have been a little clearer as well . ATS doesn't get me down , but in this case the subject matter did . Perhaps i should take an ostrich approach and put my head in the sand . But children are dying tragically in Syria and Iraq ,west Africa and countless other places . Somehow i seem immune from the suffering and deaths in those countries though , and that fact is sad . Is this just because i have been desensitised to this suffering ,or because of its remoteness . It is only a news item on tv right . Is it a reflection upon me or society . Perhaps it is me as the child mentioned is also remote but upon reading the post it cut me up . Maybe is the past being dragged up and i was quite lucky there thanks to an ever alert grandmother . Still i went through things no child should have to . Thanks to all the replies and your advice . I will try to avoid posts such as this in the future . Lastly the god thing . If we are made in gods image he must be a sick mofo .

a reply to: hutch622

Hutch622,

Do not avoid posting what you feel and think about matters. Otherwise, what is the point in membership. That you had experiences which have altered and damaged you in the past is tragic, and I am sorry to hear that you had to go through that to get where you are now.

I do not think that any of us here are entirely ignorant of the things that go on in this world, and I also believe that deep down, we are all affected by the stories we hear of vileness, sickness, and horrors beyond imagining. I do however believe that some of us have a defence mechanism, which works on a principle of "can I solve this right now? No? Then I should not devote my mind to it, else I will go insane."

I believe it is not a conscious process, but one the brain undertakes independent of conscious control for the safety of the mind itself, for the preservation of the life of the individual.