Culture of Violence

We have unwittingly produced a culture of violence . . . it bears a relationship to addiction.   No one intended that, it wasn’t consciously willed; it just crept up on us.  Much like in any addiction, there is denial of its danger—the chosen thing seems harmless . . . ‘it’s a stress reliever’, ‘everyone does it’, ‘it is our right’. And excuses abound for supporting its continuation—until something so serious happens the problem can no longer be denied.

A week ago, within a 24-hour period, there were two mass shootings in two different cities leaving 31 people dead.  What words are left to capture the horror of another mass shooting in America? Haven’t all the words already been used for such atrocities?

The first mass shooting of strangers by one person was in 1966 (53 years ago).  Charles Whitman climbed to the observation deck of the Texas University clock tower with a rifle and proceeded to pick off passing students.  There were 18 deaths counting the shooter.  The nation was in shock, it was described as ‘the worst mass killing in American history’.  How could such a thing happen? He was an ex-Marine, it was later determined he suffered from PTSD.  That was in the mid-1900; in the 2000’s there has been a steady increase of mass murders—it is said it has become ‘the norm’.

Can a culture or society be addicted?  I believe it can be.  Not every member of that society need be involved and the addiction shows itself in different expressions, but where a majority supports something that is clearly unhealthy, it constitutes a kind of social addiction.  Violence is unhealthy and a continuous focus on it is psychologically damaging.

When we see evidence of this disorder expressed in a mass killer, people strain to find an explanation, a ‘reason’: guns, mental health, childhood abuse, violent video games, divisive and insulting rhetoric, negative rap music, pornography, violence in movies and on TV, radical right-wing ideology, lure of the forbidden . . . and always there is denial that that thing can’t be it . . .  ‘that’s nothing new’, ‘it has always been around’, etc.  But that misses the point, it isn’t any one thing, it’s the repetitive, all-pervasive presence of many forms of violence in our everyday lives that assaults the psyche of people.  Not any ‘one thing’ alone but the cumulative effect of our obsession with violence . . . then someone here or there demonstrates an intense reaction.

Taking some of the violence issues we live with, perhaps first and foremost is the nation’s love of/obsession with guns—it is matched nowhere else in the world.  There is a misinterpreted constitutional amendment with which gun-lobbyists block any attempts to put controls on guns. Centuries ago when the constitution was written the young country was largely lawless and the amendment was meant to give citizens the ability to protect themselves.  At that time there were only muskets, rifles and pistols—that was the ownership that was protected. Over the centuries technical advances brought forth automatic assault weapon for use in war; surely there was not foresight for these weapon and our forefathers would not have protected private ownership of them.  

Currently there are more guns than people in our country, surely that suggests we are a violent culture. Although there are many laws to protect the public from faulty merchandise that may be harmful, yet all attempts to secure protection for the public against assault weapons are blocked. The near-religious fervor to ‘protect our gun rights’ seems as ‘unhealthy’ as any other addiction.

Another thing that is contributing to the demise of our culture and fueling violence is the coarsening of rhetoric.  Not so many years ago, politeness coupled with sensitivity was a desirable virtue. It was considered a sign of maturity to be able to engage in debate without resorting to name-calling and insults. Such restraint is necessary for diplomacy.  That politeness has been in a downward spiral since the 60’s, but has taken a notable plunge since the 2016 presidential campaign.

One more thing I will single out from my list of signs of a disordered culture is the emphasis upon violence in our entertainment industry.  But before going into the violence, consider the fact that the entertainment industry alone is capable of making instantaneous millionaires: sports stars, movie and TV stars, singers with smash hits are materially rewarded far above the norm of society.  It points to something unhealthy about a society in which entertainers are valued more than scientists, educators, researchers, health professionals . . . anyone else except money manipulators who add nothing to the advancement of society; their purpose is to help make the already rich yet richer, and they profit disproportionately doing it.

Back to the point of violence—movies came into prominence in American culture in the beginning of the 1900’s, TV in the 1950’s.  Very soon it became apparent that the most popular themes were sex and violence;  movies attempted to control both with censorship from the early 1900’s to the ‘50s and 60’s when finally censorship was abandoned in 1966.  I don’t argue for the return of censorship but I do want the public to realize that the constant exposure to violence and immorality is damaging to young minds still in the process of forming . . . sex and violence are exciting and stimulating and we seem to be automatically drawn to them, and that is the same problem that occurs with cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs. Wisdom tells us to approach them with care, using self-control.

There has been nothing more influential in contemporary society than television—in our homes with 24/7 availability—that was true until the Internet; those two influences supersede all other influences.  The person one become results form a duel interaction of heredity and environment, and the environment of TV and Internet makes violence readily available.

We humans are the only creatures blessed with reflective awareness, the ability to see forward and back so we can plan and choose.  That constitutes our consciousness—it is a huge responsibility—together humanity makes the world to be what it is.  There have been both good and bad choices.  As we expand our consciousness we learn to make better choices.

The cumulative effect of many negative influences without a positive counter balance creates a culture of violence.  For all intents and purposes any concept of a God has been eliminated from our secular materialistic society.  About mid-way into the 1900’s laws were passed to prohibit prayer in schools and all mention of God in public affairs.  

Now I know and don’t deny ‘religion’ is a volatile issue, wars have been fought in its name, but that results from one religion claiming superiority and insisting all others are wrong. God is so far above religions and so beyond our ability to comprehend, any religion insisting upon its exclusive ‘rightness’ is in error.  A ‘God concept’ embodies all that is good: love, mercy, justice, hope, truth, compassion . . . that goodness needs expression.   You can remove from the public specific religious ideologies, but not God. Call God by whatever name or names you choose, or no name other than ‘the good’.  There is a need in any and all societies to hold up before all people—especially children still in a formative stage—an articulated set of values that are regularly called forth.  Does it really matter if God is preexistent or if God is something we strive and hope for?  In our lives we need a ‘God image’ to carry forward the good we long for.

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I recommend Marianne Williamson’s book:  Healing the Soul of America

Seeking Rightness

series:  Long-Term Vision #1

So many people have dismissed God as irrelevant, and the violence and immorality in our world increases almost daily. We’ve become complacent about greed and graft and developed an addiction to violence in our films, TV and video games . . . no God and a diet of violence . . . how is there not an awareness of a correlation? Psychology tells us that what we are exposed to regularly becomes a lived part of our consciousness and invades our unconscious, defining who and what we are.

In my youth there were not mass shootings or angry people driving vehicles into crowds of pedestrians—now it happens on a regular basis.  Graft and corruption in government was believed to be what happened in ‘uncivilized’ countries—now it is everywhere.

It used to be that awareness of God and goodness was regularly called to mind so God was in the forefront of our thinking, but it was mixed too much with rules and regulations of specific religious imperatives that emphasized sin and death.  We have so misunderstood and mis-explained God that many people came to dismiss all consideration of God.  It was our interpretation of God, not God that was wrong. The fact is we need a concept of goodness and rightness to define for us who and what we can be.

I cannot understand who or what is that life force which we call ‘God’ but I know God IS and wish to call the life-force something; I would call it ‘Thou’ because I know it has a presence but no material form.  It is not a ‘he’; it is in no way vengeful.  It is the source of all good and is somehow present in all creation; it is sometimes named as 'Love', 'Truth', ‘Consciousness’,  . . . qualities which Thou has shared with us; we posses consciousness, seek truth and are capable of love. 

In humanity there is a seeking for rightness, which can be countered because we also have free will. Morality is inherent in humans; it may be ignored and/or denied, may be distorted and even badly twisted, but our consciousness brings with it the desire for ‘rightness’ (Love, Truth, Mercy, Justice, Compassion) and that is the nature of God.  Unless the Will is distorted by that which is evil, we long for indestructible rightness.

I quote from The New Cosmic Story by John Haught: “Rightness . . . does not come cheaply and hence cannot be taken for granted.  It cannot be owned but only anticipated.  Its full reception requires not only patient waiting but also thankful appreciation . . . to an eternally generous and resourceful ‘Thou’.”

As a species we are not yet ‘finished’.  The patient waiting he refers to is our recognizing the long evolutionary struggle that ultimately brought forth our planet, then life, and then humanity.  The next evolutionary step is our struggle to bring forth the longed for indistructable rightness. 

Global Challenges

This past week has been a week of devastation for our nation with wildfires raging in the West accompanied by temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  Over 200 homes were incinerated in California.  Today is Sunday and the fires still burn.  In the South and Central parts of the country powerful storms with hail and tornadoes flattened whole towns leaving a death toll of at least 35.  West Virginia was swept with historic floods that destroyed more than 100 homes causing over 20 deaths.  This scale of catastrophes is not normal!   In this we get a preview of what is in store from the effects of Climate Change.  Although scientists now agree that humans are in a large part responsible, there are still people stubbornly denying that human activity is the cause in order to continue to avoid facing the need to change our patterns of living.

As a culture we seem to have lost our taste for long-term thinking.  Since we became the ‘NOW generation’ in the 60’s and 70’s more and more we seem to have replaced deep thought with an obsessive drive for quick fixes, instant answers (instant gratification?); but more than ever the world needs careful analysis and solutions that point to a sustainable future.  Our world is in crisis.  Throughout the globe humanity seems to be moving relentlessly toward self-destruction, either slowly by environmental degradation or quickly by wars that promise to unleash the weapons of mass destruction that we have amassed and which continue to be produced.

I believe the tensions of that unspoken fear is given a voice in the increasing violence that is bubbling below the surface and erupting suddenly and relentlessly in terrorist attacks, mass shooting of innocent strangers, violence flaring at sporting events, and in public gatherings that degenerate into riots . . . I see it also in the expressed dissatisfaction with the institutions that are needed to keep order in society.

Not for a moment do I suggest our institutions aren’t flawed and in need of repair—be it the economic systems, health care services, religious institution, educational systems and yes, governments . . . but total rebellion against the established institutions will not bring a ‘quick fix’; rather chaos with new and different problems.

The week of environmental disasters was topped off by the shocking vote by Great Britain to exit the European Union.  The EU was established after WWII to bring greater unity and harmony between those close nation neighbors and lower the dangers of Nationalism, exclusive self-interest and xenophobia.

The great visionary Teilhard de Chardin (1881 -1955), foresaw the inevitable movement of civilization toward globalization and he was acutely aware of both the promise of and the dangers that movement held.  In his book, Building The Earth he states: “The Age of Nations is past.  The task before us now, if we would not parish, is to build the earth.”

The world has not yet embraced the fact that we are an interdependent global world and we must build the earth together, transitioning from exclusive self-interest to consideration for the greater whole.  This is a difficult but necessary change to make.  The reality is that the world we now occupy IS a global one.  Communications, transportation and trade have made it that. 

A global world must prioritize differently and use different decision-making methods—from demands and threats to cooperation and negotiations.  For many, rather than giving serious consideration to how to accomplish the integration, there is a pulling back, a retreat to the former ways.  Tensions arise, polarization occurs and issues become only black and white, “my side is right, his is wrong”.  This polarization has swept Great Britain into opting out of the European Union.  That choice has worldwide ramifications. 

It has often been said that progress happens by two steps forward and one step back.  Unfortunately Great Britain has taken the step backwards, lured by Boris Johnson’s rhetoric that fanned the Nationalism of ‘taking our country back’, his firm stand on anti-immigration and the promise of more money for health care by not paying into the EU. 

We in America face a similar polarization.  Soon we face a national election.  I can only hope and pray that we don’t also confront the global challenge with a backward step to fanning nationalism, choosing exclusive self-interest and embracing xenophobia; thus re-defining progress as ‘one step forward and two steps back.’

Look in the Mirror

As I sit awaiting the outcome of this Super Tuesday Presidential race I worry about this country’s political future.  How did we get to this level of anti-civility and why does the public support it?  My last posting was of America’s love of violence and its refusal to acknowledge that it is a problem.   The Republican primaries highlight my point, it has been months of insulting in-fighting among candidates, vitriolic attack ads, physical violence erupting at speeches . . . what other than attraction to violence explains the hemorrhage of attention given to a foul-mouthed, egotistical, bigot running for president of our country? 

I’m a registered Independent and have given my vote to candidates in both parties, choosing not party but the character of the candidate.  I don’t always agree with our presidents, but I respect the office of president.  There is nothing about Trump’s candidacy that calls for respect, his tactics and demeanor are that of a dictator: ‘I’m great!  Obey me or be crushed!’

If we move a bit from the Trump haranguing we can return to a measure of civility despite differences.  The Democratic debates stick to issues and candidates disagree without resorting to personal insults.  Among Republicans, only Kasich has conducted an admirable campaign.

I can only hope and pray the general public awakens to listen to “their better angels” before leading the country blindly into disaster.

Addiction to Violence

There is a sickness in the American culture—we are in love with violence.  It is not just a casual indulgence it is an obsession.  We love violence in any form (be it in the pursuit of the bad or the good).  We love it in our movies, TVs, video games and even in our music—most notably in rap.  We can see it in our love of sports—the more violent the better and football tops all.  A subtler lure to violence is an increasing interest in extreme sports that thrive on the desire to ‘push the envelope’ ever farther.

 Among so many Americans there is an open love affair with guns and any attempt to set reasonable controls meets with angry resistance.  Mass shootings have become so commonplace as to be part of today’s norm. 

The political process of our nation has become a circus of verbal violence with shouts and insults and foul language and bold lies.  It goes on because the public responds not with criticism of it but with eager attention to it.  It is an embarrassment before the world that the highest office in our land is negotiated in such a manner.

I seem to be saying, “the grass is green”—yes, everyone knows of these things, but do we treat the love of violence as a serious problem that needs attention?  It doesn’t ‘just happen’ we choose it!  We respond eagerly at its display whether it is in the films we watch or the sports events upon which we spend billions of dollars.  As a nation we refuse to face the gun issue in a rational way.  As a society we refuse to look in the mirror at ourselves and see the self-damage we inflict . . . like the drug addict and alcoholic we maintain there is no problem—refusing to acknowledge the evidence.

If we are striving to be leaders of the free world, we have an obligation to set a precedence of choosing attitudes and behaviors that enhance rather than diminish, to do that we must face our addiction to violence.