To people of my generation—John Lennon was an
icon of the 60s peace movement. He was an activist against the war in
Vietnam—he and his wife, Yoko Ono, were both very much involved in activities
promoting peace worldwide.
On 8 December 1980 at 10:50 pm, John was
gunned down in front of his New York apartment by a mentally ill former fan of his
Mark David Chapman, of whom
Lennon had earlier that evening autographed his new double album—“Double
Fantasy”. John was shot four times.
It is ironic that the peacemakers of the
world often seem to die a violent death at the hands of the very things that
they fight against. Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, and
John Lennon were all peacemakers and they all died violent deaths by people who
intended to kill them.
I find it troubling that some people are able carry so much hate and rage against peacemakers that they feel it necessary to assassinate them or psychologically develop some sort of twisted delusion that they decide to kill them.
To me--the death of John Lennon marked the
end of the 60s peace movement and became a stark, shattering, end of innocence.
Shortly after, inadvertently the United States would engage into a desperate
arms race with Russia that would extend well into the late 80s. The former Soviet
Union was already one year into a 10 year war with Afghanistan—their own
Vietnam.
The peace movement lost a colossal voice on
December 8, 1980 and much of the world was left standing in disbelief staring
in horror at Lennon’s body asking the same question that was asked when King
and the Kennedys’ were killed—WHY?
Written
by Harold Schelling.
Copyright
© 2014 by Harold Schelling
