The reasons for these acts of violence are varied and complex, but all have been meted out at the hands of a fellow human being and not one can be recalled, nor their dead and wounded made whole again.
I believe that there is more good than evil in the world. I believe that this singular truth is what keeps us from the Biblical Armageddon so many predict is our ultimate destiny. Most of all, I believe that our civilization still has time to rise from its darkness to embrace the light.
In this vain, I also believe that evil will continue to ravage us for some time to come. I believe this because profound acts of violence, while singular in their horror and timing, are symptoms of a deeper darkness that we encounter each day, but never stop to name.
We only need look to Washington DC, the seat of one of the most powerful governments ever known to humankind. Witness the grandstanding, finger-pointing, half-truths and perpetual division. Consider our political campaigns where real issues always take a back seat to mudslinging and one-upmanship.
Explain our hostility toward illegal aliens, while we selectively forget that the vast majority of us are descendants of the very same moniker.
Why are gay men and women still denied the full benefits of our Constitution?
The murders that have bloodied our communities and bowed our heads are not isolated events. They have grown from seeds so faint and so non-descript that we have lost sight of their relationship to the brutal harvests they bear.
When you degrade another person and do it in front of your children, you set the stage for hatred to live one more generation.
When you name yourself and your culture superior to another, you perpetuate the idea that equality and tolerance are only for those who meet your standards. When you believe that your way is the only way, you exclude, disenfranshise and create enemies instead of allies.
The end to violence and terror begins where you live, work, play and dream. It begins with you and me. What we sow, we reap. Sow hate, you will reap hate. Sow fear, you will reap fear. Sow intolerance and you will reap intolerance. Acts of violence are the end result…they may erupt out of nowhere, but they were sown in “fertile soil” long before they saw the light of day.
Love, peace, tolerance, compassion and humanity cannot be preached. They must be lived!
