"An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind," Mahatma Gandhi said. This makes one wonder, has that already happened? With whatever eyesight we have left we watch pushing, shoving, punching, exploding, shooting, killing, television shows, movies, and video games. Daily newspapers and
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| ENOUGH Violence |
newscasts describe the latest murders and the crime scenes turn out to be our schools, shopping malls, and neighborhood streets. I imagine raising children in this surround-sound environment proves even harder than in my day, when after denying my children toy guns, my son fashioned his morning toast into one.
Many writers have tried to find words to explain violence. Columnist Chris Hedges called violence a disease that corrupts all who use it regardless of the cause. And though our Christmas cards and songs proclaim, "Peace on Earth, good will toward men," when violence reigns in our communities, people feel anxious and unsafe in their own homes and neighborhoods.
The science fiction writer, Isaac Asimov called violence "the last refuge of the incompetent." It takes skill and restraint to negotiate, but it also takes a feeling of hope that peaceful methods can succeed. The makeshift signs I've seen in some Pittsburgh neighborhoods, "Don't shoot. We love you," seem to be aiming at the young people who have given up on themselves, on their own futures, and on the adults in their community.
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Artists Speak Out
Maimuna Feroze Nana |
We know some things that could help build peace like getting guns out of the hands of people who do not have the strength and wherewithal to not use them on their neighbors. In spite of multiple community tragedies this hasn't been able to happen in most parts of the country.
Guandi stated that "Poverty is the worst form of violence," so we know we need a stronger safety net of services, including better mental health and drug treatment programs, along with establishing a high enough minimum wage so parents don't have to work two and three jobs to feed their families, leaving their children without their guidance.
The gap between what we know can help and the time and energy it's taking to make any of it happen puts us in danger of despair. Because we can't do some things doesn't mean we can't do anything. As Jean Shonoda Bolen puts it, "Activism is a personal choice. It is a passion for a cause expressed through actions, funding, communication, as well as prayer, rituals, and art."
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Peace On Earth MGM 1939.
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Calligraphic Meditation
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Enough Violence: Artists Speak Out - Julie Sirek
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