Violence is Not the Answer

Where have all the flowers gone?

Once again the world was shaken by an unspeakable act of violence and yet everyone wants to speak about it. The news media platforms are full of it with all the gory details. Social media is full of pundits with all the answers. Including, but not limited to their favorite cause, be it ISIL or guns or inadequate policing or the wrong religion or praying to the wrong god.

And everyone has their favorite solution to the problem. In the US it is take away the guns. France took away the veil. The military want to take lives. The police all our freedoms. None of these have been the answer. Many of these solutions have been the root cause of more violence. And yet we ignore that. It was all about we didn't take it far enough. Guns ought to be harder to get, we need to drop more bombs, spy upon the populations with more, strip more people naked, ban the black hoodie, forbid the religious veils and habits, close all the borders, police all the neighborhoods . . . Find yet another "non-violent" way to violate our humanity. And if that does not work be more violent.

I wanted to escape the news this morning. Does it really matter if it is 149 or 151 dead? Or if they were shot or blown up? None of that will change in any meaningful way if we watch another minute or find another news source. We will not solve the problem if we post another meme or demand another invasion or push the media to place blame.

We are to blame. We have been given plenty of opportunity over the decades to find a way to peace. But we continue to choice violence.

I was a hippy. A peacenik. I participated in peace marches against the war in Vietnam. I stood in solidarity with the non-violent approach to civil rights. I lit candles. If the rest of the population believes they just haven't bombed enough people I can continue to believe I haven't lit enough candles.

I urge anyone who reads this to turn off the TV, shut off the social media. They do not have the right answer. Instead sit and meditate or pray for an answer we have not yet tried. A way to peace, be it on the neighborhood or national level, which does not include violence.

Violence only begets more violence.

I do not have the answer. I just know nothing we have tried seems to work. And I am willing to live in the question of how do we stop killing each other.

Comments

  1. The Blog of BeeNovember 14, 2015 at 1:40 PM

    I don't know the answer either. The violence is not confined to France. There is violence everywhere. As I watched the initial reports coming out of Paris I asked those shocked, indignant people with me if they didn't realize that atrocities of this sort are being committed in much of the Middle East but is not being covered by mainstream media. Where is the indignation for those who are being attacked and/or losing their lives there? In North Africa? No one talks about those unless they involve members of the Western world who may just happen to be there.

    I will light more candles, continue to add people who are suffering in war torn areas to my prayer list and believe that if enough of us practice 'peace begins with me' instead of commenting and sharing media hype, we could maybe, just maybe start the revolution of peace.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I write for me but I care what my readers think. Please be polite and no scamming.

Popular posts from this blog

Swimming

Image
For much of my college career my fitness workout was swimming on the B squad of the swim team. I remember it as the days before heated pools and women coaches. I also remember being so exhausted and cold I could only lean against the shower wall and throw up. Not exactly warm fuzzy images but I was in awesome shape. Needless to say it did not leave me with a overpowering desire to swim laps. Point of fact for years my swimming became really informal: Swimming to shore after the canoe tipped over, challenging my sister once a summer to across the lake and back, seeing how long I could back float without moving a muscle, and a scuba course. I also played around with other ways of staying fit: aerobics, bicycling, jogging, skiing and dance classes. All of which seem to be bad for the knees, back or feet. After my ski accident my physical therapist steered me back to the pool. Damn if I was going to swim laps! However, aqua fit was just getting rather seriously taken so I took it. It r
Read more

The Pruning the Crown of Thorns

Image
Crown of Thorns Before I am a lover of Euphorbias . They are from the deserts of Southern Africa and Madagascar. They have evolved physical characteristics and forms similar to cacti of North and South America and are often incorrectly referred to as cacti. My big Crown of Thorns was one of my first of a growing collection of these succulents from the spurge family of Euphorbiaceae. I picked it up as a 6 inch plant in a New Iberia nursery when my sister and I were touring the northern gulf coast. I believe that was 15 years ago. I made an attempt at limiting its height a few years back to allow it to devote more energy to the new branches and make it a denser plant. That failed. And the height of the plant continued to challenge the window space and soon the long branches were leaning over and leaning against the window. I googled and found the proper way to prune this treasured plant. Still it was very difficult to cut off the four longer branches. Even with a plan. The f
Read more

Eagle Nest Dam

Image
Tour of Eagle Nest Dam Eagle Nest Dam is the largest privately built dam in the United States. It was begun by the Springer family in 1917 and completed in 1920. It and the reservoir beyond it one was privately owned by the CS Ranch which recently sold it to the state of New Mexico. Eagle Nest Lake is now a state park, but the dam and the waters in the lake are another matter all together. Water is well regulated in New Mexico especially during a drought. The lake is now at 25% of its normal capacity, and the water in the lake are water right lease holds of Raton, Cimarron, and historic ranches in the area like the UU Bar and the CS Ranch. Game and Fish department also get involved because the Cimarron River is an active fishery of the state. Our guide was a state engineer and the Gateway Museum secured permission of the land owners below the dam for us to gain access to the area. Some 100 locals and tourists attended this rare event. I have lived here almost twenty years and th
Read more