Why All The Violence?
 | Author:
Fr. Cody Williams, Holy Cross Church
Nancy Marks: MT43 News Secretary and News Editor |
Why All the Violence?
Fr. Cody Williams
Holy Cross Church
Over the past several years, many feel that the amount of violence in our world has increased. Our news feeds feel full of violent acts, with what seems like a daily occurrence. Why is there so much violence? Why does it feel like the world is becoming more violent?
Let’s take a moment and reflect on these questions. Historically speaking, the world has always been a violent place. Humanity has endured wars in every century, violence in the streets, and horrible acts of dehumanization. Does this change the story? It doesn’t. The question we should be asking is, why haven’t we done anything about it? We often tout ourselves as a civilized and progressive society that is looking forward to a brighter future free of the ills of the past. But, as we all know, history is bound to repeat itself and, as the news has shown, we haven’t really changed.
So, what should we do? Let’s take a moment to look at the situation before we can get to a solution. What has changed in our society to cause these acts of violence? First, the degradation of dialogue. How many people feel that they can have a civilized conversation about politics, religion, society, life? I argue that few people can say “yes.” Dialogue is a central action for resolving disputes. We can begin to understand one another, strive to find truth, and work together. Yet, this leads to the second point: the polarization of society.
We enjoy contests, competitions, and winning. Yet, our competition usually has two competitors and one winner. Which means, someone is always the winner and someone is always the loser. If we couple this winner/loser mentality with political and social issues, then every societal issue becomes a battle with a winner and a loser. The loser will always be angry and believe that they can fight back to win and the winner is always going to strive to keep themselves as the winner. No one truly wins. Third, we stopped caring for each other. When I moved to Montana in 2005, I was amazed that as I walked down the street, people would say hi. This charming aspect of Montana culture is slowly degrading as with the common care for the other. When we stop caring about the good of other people, then we see their lives as worthless as well. We lock ourselves into the belief that winning is more important than the people involved. The result: violence.
How do we stop the violence? We stop ignoring it and begin to seek real solutions. Most violence can be stopped simply by treating people with care. Most people experience some level of pain. Most people do not know how to properly handle their pain and instead use unhealthy means to deal with the pain. We can stop many violent acts with compassion simply by seeking to help people in their pain. We can mitigate much of the tension in our society by being open to dialogue and working to enter into conversations with people who disagree with us.
The main point: stopping the violence begins with us. We must choose to make a difference and strive against the social norms that cause violence.
