"What has violence ever accomplished? What has it ever created? No martyr's cause has ever been stilled by an assassin's bullet. No wrongs have ever been righted by riots and civil disorders. A sniper is only a coward, not a hero; and an uncontrolled or uncontrollable mob is only the voice of madness, not the voice of the people." - Robert Kennedy
I've been encouraging my students to write each and every day. I want them to express the concerns or issues that they feel are relevant or that matter to them. Most look at me with a blank stare and look at me and say, "I don't know what to write about!" Well kids, your teacher does. It doesn't take much thought, that as each time the news broadcasts another tragedy, we are told to rise above it and take out the Spackle to cover the holes in our hearts. We have become or expected to become contractors, the quicker "fixer-uppers" for each and every perverse and well-planned act of violence. So as the broadcasts continue, I keep asking myself, "When did acts of violence and hate become fashionable?"
I was born in the 60's and as a child, my world was kept fairly visionary and more importantly safe. Around me however, our world was not safe. There were protests against the war in Viet Nam. The President Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Gandhi, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated. The Civil Rights movement brought us visible peaceful protests and violence. But no one thought it was fashionable.The 60's brought about change. Today, no one seems to be able to change a thing. Why? Most of what is needed to be done seems like a "no-brainer." Columbine should have been the catalyst. Sandy Hook should have been the catalyst. The countless attacks since then have been the normal news and this saddens me beyond anything else I've witnessed with the exception of 9/11. Our children are dying and most of America still loves their guns. Our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and friends are dying right on television and we still need to debate any gun regulations that make sense??
The human race, historically has shown its violent side time and time again and we haven't learned a thing. The difference today is that America has once again, awakened it's violent and irrational side without much provocation and it has become fashionable to show your ugliness. It has become fashionable to forget about manners and tolerating our differences. We shout. We yell. We call each other unspeakable names. We bully. Then we kill. It gets on the news and the "mad-man/terrorist" gets the attention they never had. We need to pay as much attention to our mental health as we do to our physical health. That has more priority in my mind than looking at the Second Amendment. A healthy society is a society that breeds kindness, compassion and is not afraid of change.
What are killing besides each other, is our soul as a people. We have forgotten that we have a soul and a heart. How did we lose our spirit? The human condition dictates that most of this is cyclical and if we're patient enough, it too shall pass. But my fear is that it won't pass. My fear is that as quickly as the news dissipates, we will again, stop paying attention to each other. We will ignore our neighbors, our loved ones and close our eyes to the obvious. We don't need more guns to protect ourselves. We need to look out for each other and offer our hand. That is the most effective protection we have. If you believe in a compassionate God, then this too is the only solution. Common sense dictates that when something is blatantly obvious, in your face, there should be no more discussion. It simply is. The right thing is the right thing. There is no politics needed. There is no need for government debate. We know what is right. Why are we afraid to admit it? Those we have elected to office need to put their constituents first and stop playing politics with what is clearly obvious. Our conscience, our moral fiber, our souls are at stake.
I am a child of the 60's. My parents were united on one thing. They wanted us to talk. They wanted to know what was going on in our lives. We weren't blind to what was happening in the world but we wanted to make it better by having a conscience. It's about time we developed our conscience again.
