Confronting Violence, part 2

A few days ago I signed a petition from CredoAction and posted it to my Facebook page status. The posting read, in part:

"Tell Sarah Palin: Violent threats have consequences.
act.credoaction.com"

Four people "liked" my status and one individual met me at the school playground and thanked me for putting the message out there, as she was desperate to do something in the wake of the violence in Tucson. One of my good friends did not like the posting,and pointed out that Mrs. Palin's map with crosshairs was not a likely motivator for the shooter in Tucson. He noted, like many commentators, that the tragic event was used as a justification to attack Mrs. Palin by those who oppose her politically.

There is truth in what he said. I admit to being so sad and outraged by the shooting that when I read Credo's email at 6:00am the following morning I signed and posted it without stopping to think too clearly about the message. I dislike Palin's rhetoric, think her word choices are sloppy at best and dangerous at worst, but one person / party is not to blame for the violence in our country. There have been violent images and suggestive language on the part of the left and middle of the political divide, as well, and my lack of familiarity with those examples does not give me leave to blame one, obvious target. (Though an individual who runs for president, writes a book and has a television show puts themselves in the way of being obvious).

Referring back to my post of yesterday, I have recognized over the past ten years that I could be capable of violence. In the wrong situation, with triggers of hunger, fear, anger, exhaustion or illness, I could probably commit violent acts. Maybe not. I don't know, but I'm no longer protected by childlike naivete. Growing up sheltered by loving parents, given all the material things that I needed and untested by provocation, I did not believe I was capable of violence. I thought it would take incredible circumstances to provoke one individual to hurt another. Now, I really believe that we are all capable of violent acts. It would not take even a perfect storm of events to break through our moral and cultural resolve. We need to help each other to "breathe peace in and out."

I am helped by friends and family and by my own expectation and fierce desire to protect and be a good example to my children. I am also aided by the current parenting culture which frowns upon spanking or any physical punishment. We need this type of supportive framework for the country as a whole. We should resist the invitation to use violent words, images and metaphors, refusing to give our implicit blessing to real-life acts.

If Americans could all recognize how close each of us is to violence and how hard we must work to choose a different path I think we would respond differently to tragedies like the shooting in Arizona. We would not be surprised and shocked. We would recognize that this situation will always occur when guns are available, when mentally ill people aren't treated, when people are isolated, afraid, angry. We must create a culture where violence is not acceptable, where weapons are not easy to find, where citizens are taught how to feel anger without acting on it, and supported in their life circumstances. These steps are hard. They will take a long time. Now seems like a good time to start.