This was a violent week in our country. And I join most Americans who are heartsick by it. I truly lament that violence is part of our human nature. It is all too evident that human beings are capable of violence and that some are much more prone to it than others in the same way that other human attributes are distributed among our species. How easily a person turns to violence depends greatly on their emotional and intellectual makeup (nature) as well as their upbringing, exposure, and cultivated social morality (nurture). It also depends on the right provocation. And hatred and fear are huge provocations.
I’m not certain if my abhorrence of violence is attributed to nature or to my early exposure to actual violence and its accompanying horrors. I’ve never held a gun and don’t want to. I can’t watch boxing or wrestling as sport because I get physically sick at the sight of one person hitting another. I cried through the opening scene of “Saving Private Ryan” and regretted going to see it. To this day, I am traumatized by violent onscreen scenes. But some people are turned on by violence and that frightens me, especially when violence is being stoked by hateful rhetoric and fear mongering.
Few people are violent for violence sake. But there are those who get high from watching or participating in violence. They actually enjoy dog or cock fights or mixed martial arts, and other violent displays as a form of entertainment. I think this attraction to violence is innate and I observed it early on in elementary school when other kids rushed to watch our classmates settle a petty dispute with an afterschool fist fight. Perhaps I and a few others were outside the norm, not wanting to watch. I imagine that those same kids who wanted to see the fight are now grownups who probably pay good money to watch boxing matches. That’s never been me, but if those violent thrills curb real life violence in the streets and in homes, then I’m for it.
Of course there are those who have no trouble harming others and who might even enjoy it. I believe they are called psychopaths. Psychopaths lack the morality that would prevent them from harming others without justification. Thankfully, violent psychopaths are rare.
What I am most afraid of are the weak-minded and gullible humans among us who have access to guns and bomb making instructions. Throughout American history, minorities have been terrorized by these individuals and groups whenever their fears and hatred of the “other” is stoked. This week we experienced the impact of the hateful rhetoric and fear mongering statements of President Trump, Fox News, online conspiracy theorists, and conservative radio hosts. Their words provoked three weak-minded men who are already prone to violence to act violently. Unless the hateful speech and fear-mongering cease or are effectively countered by reasonable moral voices, we can expect a lot more deadly violence. We have to vote this week to ensure that we endorse reasonable voices and politicians who will also be a check on this destructive and violence stoking president.
I saw a great slogan the other day. It read, “Love thy neighbor-No exceptions”.
Last week, I was locked in sorrow. While I was grateful for the good counsel & wise mentoring you offer to young women you spoke of, my mind was stuck in a place that left me mute with rages & hurt. It was not just violence, it’s also deliberate PO Box voter suppression tactics. I live by a reservation. Friends. Sweet people as American (more so) as I am. They can vote & they do. Your words matter. They make me think. Thank you. Stacy Abrams has my prayers.