With the tragedy of the Virginia Tech massacre still fresh in our minds, I thought it would be important to document the sentiments of the individual bloggers in the Blogosphere, and to see just what their reactions were with regards to this tragic event.

By far, one of the more interesting accounts was from Bryce, he proceeded to a live-blogging session during the day of the shootings, his first post was at 10:48 am when the information was still coming in, and when full accounts were very vague and incomplete.

Publius Forum thinks that the shootings has raised a few questions such as the meaning of Ishmael Ax, the words that were written on the shooter’s arm and in writings included in his killing manifesto. He asks as to why no meaningful news agency has not looked into the religion of this shooter. The main gist of Publius’ article is that there may be some similarities between the shooting and terrorism and ultimately even jihad. I’m not sure I agree, but it’s an interesting perspective.

Canon Kendall Harmon cites the New York Times regarding the progression of Cho Seung-Hui from his troubling silence since his childhood into the murderous rage that ended with the shootings.

The Moderate Voice talks about The One Day Blog Silence Project, and how it may not be a good idea, he also cites Lisa Sabin who says, “silence is part of the problem”

Cathy looks at the situation and points to bullying as a possible culprit, and in recent reports that I have seen, the shooter’s high school classmates confirm that Cho was picked on as well.

Liz beautifully contemplates on silence, and how silence will forever be with the friends and family who died in the tragedy…

Doug looks at the horror and points us to four things we should learn: (1) Every Breath is a gift, and that life is in itself a blessing, (2) Second, we must acknowledge that the rise of community violence is a judgment of the Lord, (3) Third, the worst response to school murders that our politicians could make would be to further disarm the American citizenry, and (4) Fourth, every tragedy is an opportunity God gives to reflect glory and honor to Him.

DK Raymer provides for us a simple and thoughtful quote, “Don’t lose hope. When it gets darkest, the stars come out.” - Author Unknown…

Tingog.com writes about the gun debate and even the tape debate that seemed to follow after the shootings.

And Anorak focused on an email statement at slate.com where an emailer poses the question, “if NBC, when it broadcast baseball games, refused to show video of fans running onto the field. Most broadcasters don’t, on the grounds that it would only encourage more attention-seeking disruptions. … If that’s NBC’s practice, why is it OK in order to prevent the disruption of a baseball game but not to prevent mass murder?”

Done with Mirrors writes about the “Overly Dramatic Useless Gestures”, pointing to reports that Yale has decided to restrict the use of weapons in theatre productions.

Cynical-C Blog writes a post titled “The Blame Game” which has some 55 things that people have tried to use as a reason for the Virginia Tech shootings. (Most of which are very very stupid)

Stephen M. Silverman writes for People Magazine Website, and focuses on the many online memorials for the Virginia Tech Victims.

The Mex Files, has a personal and Mexican perspective on the issue and writes, “in most ways I feel safer in Mexico than in the U.S.”

Common Placer looks to Prayer as an action in the midst of this tragedy, “For all those who passed away, I pray for peace for you with God and for comfort for your loved ones here on earth. For all those who were/are wounded in body, mind and heart, I pray for peace and resilience for you and your families and friends.”

Jennifer has a Virginia Tech Tribute, she is a Virginia Tech Alumni and she says, “I cannot even express how devastated we are by this senseless tragedy. It hurts my heart that my school, where I had and still have so many wonderful memories, is now the backdrop for one of the worlds most horrendous acts of cruelty.”

Atlas Shrugs focuses on some Arabic reactions to the tragedy, pointing out that Al Jazeera reported on the tragedy and included the victims, but noticeably failed to recognize the lone Holocaust survivor (Prof. Liviu Librescu) who died. Also, some jihadist websites may also be claiming Cho as one of their own.

MyDD writes about an unpopular view of the Virginia Tech Shootings, regarding making comparisons with the shootings against the Iraq War. Asking, in a sense, as to where is the similar outpouring to the American Soldiers who die in Iraq?

Communication Overtones writes about the tragedy focusing on “The Challenge of Instant Communication in a Crisis”, and that his “main takeaway from this event is the need for redundancy of communication.” He also cites some concrete ways in which technology can play a role in such incidents.

Marianne Richmond also has some viewpoints Social Media in Crisis Planning in light of the Virginia Tech shooting and concludes, “So, instead of asking “”Why didn’t we?” ” a more proactive approach would be to look at social media as an opportunity to enhance communications and developing a social media strategy makes complete sense.”

And so in the end, clearly this event has had an impact with the world community, and has sparked debates regarding gun control, where to put our focus on, the causes, why it should’ve happened in the first place, whom to blame, and how to move on. But what this tragedy has also done is to shed light on the goodness of a nation to draw strength from the Virginia Tech community. While there are those who would use this incident to further their political ideologies and causes, there are those who have focused on the healing process and inspiring others by their deep perspectives and showing their sorrow for the victims, their friends, and the families who have to go through such hard times.