THOUGHTS ON CONNECTICUT
Here we go again with the gun control
debate. With the tragedy that occurred yesterday in Connecticut, we
begin again to blame inanimate objects for the behaviors of men.
Some in our society seem to forget that a mechanical device can do
nothing of itself and requires the hand of man to provide the
catalysis for its activity. We can argue the value of gun control,
we can implement strict gun control laws, but without addressing the
root cause of the problem, our actions will bring about little
change. The cause of violence isn't a formed piece of metal, it is
the hand that manipulates it. When we address the societal change we
have undergone in recent years, we might just find a way to stop or
slow the behaviors which spawn such tragic events, and save future
families from the grief which now envelopes the lives of the victims
of this disaster.
While my heart aches and my thoughts
and prayers are with those affected by this event, I can't help but
believe that we are pointing the finger at the wrong culprit. In
trying to evaluate this and other criminal acts like yesterday's
shooting, we must look beyond any device and look at behaviors. It
is interesting that the media, politicians, and some of our fellow
citizens are quick to accuse Colt, Smith and Wesson, and Ruger, but
are slow to look at the role television, movies, other media, and the
part our societies changes in values have in bringing about the
adverse events which are affecting us with ever increasing frequency.
The fact is that over the past several decades, we have placed less
and less value on accountability, and values, and have drifted away
from the conducts which are necessary for a social societies
survival. We are quick to blame objects but
in fact we are reaping the results of our social decisions.
When we spend a good portion of our
leisure time looking at violence, what do we expect the results to
be? We dehumanize our race by creating non-living versions of our
neighbors and then spend our time watching them get dispatched into
the afterlife in ever increasingly violent ways. How do we expect
our fellow citizens to act out? In the past there was an occasional
violent portrayal of this type, but in todays world those portrayals
are coming at us at an ever increasing rate and in more graphic
detail. Do you think our sensitivity to violence might just be
lessening? When we and our children spend hours at a time, for days
on end shooting, and killing human like or even inhuman game pieces
in a virtual world, do we think it will have no long term affect? If
we do, we are wrong and our recent history proves that we are wrong.
As we discuss the recent losses in
Connecticut, perhaps we should begin to discuss some potential
solutions which might have a long term positive affect. Maybe we
should reinstate the values which existed before the increased
violence began its upswing in our society. Maybe it's time to begin
to speak again of God, moral standards and accountability again in
our schools and our government. Maybe it's time to talk about the
media's role in promoting violence and the impacts that having
violent images continuously before us can produce. Perhaps we should
look to behaviors and the societal activities that drive them,
instead of looking for an easy answer, which will not solve the
problem. Unfortunately, I don't think the involved industries will
do that, they are too busy blaming an industry which creates
inanimate objects.
What we see happening is driven by
money, greed and even a more dark motivation designed at changing the
values in our country and the world. In order for effective change
to occur, we as citizens will have to drive it. The question needs to
be asked, What are you prepared to do about it? Are you willing to
come out of your shell and lobby for change, are you willing to turn
off the television violence, to stop supporting sponsors of violence
with your dollars, to stop paying to see violent movies, to purge the
violent video games from your home and to begin to reinstate the
values that made our society work for two hundred years in your lives
and the lives of your children? It is our behaviors which can make
the difference. Until we drive what is happening with our wallets,
the peddlers of violence in our society will continue to sell their
evil to us and our children. Only when they feel it in their bank
accounts, can we expect change. The result will be that some in our
society and even some of our children will act out and the tragedies
of our day will continue. What are you prepared to do about it?
