What would have Happened if...?

Presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson made a statement during an interview on Fox News Channel about what he would have done if he had been in that classroom on the campus of Umpqua Community College when the murderer, who shall remain unnamed to deny him his notoriety, began his shooting spree. 

Dr. Carson's answer was that he would have acted differently than the students did and he would have defused the situation early on.  His exact quote was, "Not only would I probably not cooperate with him, I would not just stand there and let him shoot me." He continued, "I would say, 'Hey, guys, everybody attack him. He may shoot me, but he can't get us all.'"

For making that "outrageous" statement, Dr. Carson has been excoriated, pilloried and mocked as being out of touch with reality.  Even some of his Republican opposition is joining the fray.  He is accused of blaming the victims for not defending themselves.

I'm not going to defend Dr. Carson for his brave, though hypothetical position, which might seem to belittle and chastise the dead and wounded for inaction; but I do want you to think for a moment about another murderous incident that occurred several years ago. 

If the passengers aboard United Flight 93 on September 11, 2001 had not fought back and at least partially subdued their murderers, would we have been mourning the loss of 435 senators and representatives plus the destruction of our nation's capitol in addition to those on the plane?  Might we have been looking at the ruins of the White House, or possibly the Supreme Court?  We don't know what the target of that jet aircraft was on that fateful day, but it is best that we never found out for certain.

Was the act of bravery performed by the passengers of Flight 93 not the very same kind of reaction that Dr. Carson posited in his interview on Fox and Friends?  Why do we label those passengers heroes, yet we use a similar scenario, with only one perpetrator instead of four, to call Dr. Carson a "looney?" 

I understand that the prescribed action for such a classroom massacre scenario is for the students to "seek shelter," "find a place to hide."  Tell me, where do you find such shelter in an open classroom?  You might as well put the gun to your own head and pull the trigger if you're going to allow the armed individual to do as he pleases.

Yes, I believe that Dr. Carson's answer to the murders that occurred in Roseburg, or anywhere else for that matter, are reasoned and effective in preventing the wholesale slaughter that takes place and will likely continue to take place in the future.

Your comments are welcome...