Our Addiction to Violence

[Joe Brummer]

As I watch with sadness the unraveling of events that have followed the Virginia Tech shootings, I hear calls for new gun laws, tightened security measures at schools, better escape plans and better mental health laws. While I applaud all of these efforts, they fail to address the elephant in the room.

Over the last several decades, we have bought into, supported and celebrated a culture of violence. We have made violence a new form of art. From Rambo like movies, horrifically violent video games where the way to win the game is to kill as many people in a blood bath as possible to MTV videos of gangster rap stars singing about how they will blow away the “nappy headed ho”. We as a country spend enormous amounts of money supporting this culture of violence. We flock to the theater for each new “shoot em up, kill em” movie as each one becomes more violent than the last. Over the last 25 years we have seen the men get bigger and more threatening, and the guns get bigger and kill more people.

Even our supposed learning Channels have shows that glorify violence. The Discovery Channel has a show called “Future Weapons” that shows us that latest, greatest tools we will use to destroy ourselves and others. It is high tech killing right after this commercial break. Where are the shows that teach our young the latest tools to create peace, avoid using violence to solve problems? Where are the movies that show us that real heroes don’t have to kill anyone or blow something up to be a man? What if we spent just as much energy on the art of peace as we do the art of war and violence? Of course, those movies and television shows do not bring in the money like the violence does. Yet, we leave the theater, pick up the paper and read of the killing of our children and blindly ask “how could this happen?” The answer is right in front of our face and we paid for it, supported it and encouraged it. It is time to stop that.

We can no longer stand by and wonder who we should blame for the fact our children kill each other, our streets are filled with gangs and our schools are war zones rather than places to learn. We have all heard that we are what we feed ourselves. We have fed our souls with a steady and unhealthy diet of violence and low and behold we are surrounded by violence. When we take the time to think about it, we can, as Gandhi said, “be the change we wish to see in the world.”

The proceeds from just one violent hip hop song would be enough to pay for our community centers to serve our youth for a year. The money it takes to make and market just one more violent movie would buy books for all the schools in Rhode Island. For what it cost to make one violent gangster rap video to play on TV would be more than enough to re-open the now closed community centers across America.

It is a concept whose time has come. We must boycott violence everyplace we see it. We must not buy the movies, the CDs, the videos, the games, or support those companies who promote this stuff. If people are seriously interested in paying honor to the lives lost at Virginia Tech, then make their murders mean something. Use them as the catalyst for a movement that says violence is not entertainment, it is our destruction. We can fix the guns laws, we could toughen security, but to really address this problem, we need to make a decision to abandon our addiction to violence.

[kara speltz]

As I watch with sadness the unraveling of events that have followed the Virginia Tech shootings, I hear calls for new gun laws, tightened security measures at schools, better escape plans and better mental health laws. While I applaud all of these efforts, they fail to address the elephant in the room.

Over the last several decades, we have bought into, supported and celebrated a culture of violence. We have made violence a new form of art. From Rambo like movies, horrifically violent video games where the way to win the game is to kill as many people in a blood bath as possible to MTV videos of gangster rap stars singing about how they will blow away the “nappy headed ho”. We as a country spend enormous amounts of money supporting this culture of violence. We flock to the theater for each new “shoot em up, kill em” movie as each one becomes more violent than the last. Over the last 25 years we have seen the men get bigger and more threatening, and the guns get bigger and kill more people.

Even our supposed learning Channels have shows that glorify violence. The Discovery Channel has a show called “Future Weapons” that shows us that latest, greatest tools we will use to destroy ourselves and others. It is high tech killing right after this commercial break. Where are the shows that teach our young the latest tools to create peace, avoid using violence to solve problems? Where are the movies that show us that real heroes don’t have to kill anyone or blow something up to be a man? What if we spent just as much energy on the art of peace as we do the art of war and violence? Oh, forgive me, I forgot, those movies and television shows do not bring in the money like the violence does. Yet, we leave the theater, pick up the paper and read of the killing of our children and blindly ask “how could this happen?” The answer is right in front of our face and we paid for it, supported it and encouraged it. It is time to stop that.

We can no longer stand by and wonder who we should blame for the fact our children kill each other, our streets are filled with gangs and our schools are war zones rather than places to learn. We have all heard that we are what we feed ourselves. We have fed our souls with a steady and unhealthy diet of violence and low and behold we are surrounded by violence. When we take the time to think about it, we can, as Gandhi said, “be the change we wish to see in the world.”

The proceeds from just one violent hip hop song would be enough to pay for our community centers to serve our youth for a year. The money it takes to make and market just one more violent movie would buy books for all the schools in Rhode Island. For what it cost to make one violent gangster rap video to play on TV would be more than enough to re-open the now closed West End Community Center.

It is a concept whose time has come. We must boycott violence everyplace we see it. We must not buy the movies, the CDs, the videos, the games, or support those companies who promote this stuff. If people are seriously interested in paying honor to the lives lost at Virginia Tech, then make their murders mean something. Use them as the catalyst for a movement that says violence is not entertainment, it is our destruction. We can fix the guns laws, we could toughen security, but to really address this problem, we need to make a decision to abandon our addiction to violence.

Dear Joe: I am in total agreement with you. Our culture glorifies violence. Is it any wonder that there is so much death in this country? I personally refuse to watch any movie that promotes violence in any way shape or form. I also tell my grandkids that I will never take them to any movie that promotes violence. They know better than to ask me now, but unfortunately they both still like those kinds of movies.

kara

[Joe Brummer]

I wish it were that simple of a fix.



The fix IS THIS SIMPLE. Stop! and call your local tv stations and complain about the show. Call Discovery Channel and complain there.

Call the advertisers of the shows and tell them it is unacceptable. And stop watching.....

[BenL]

The interim rector of our church preached Sunday on Peace, as in Christ's resurrection message. He contrasted it with what he called the notion that our society has of "redemptive" violence. Somehow we as a society have come to see violence as cleansing and cathartic and, yes, redemptive. Scary, what?

It is most frightening when people of faith turn to violence as a solution for their inability to coexist with political enemies. This violence reveals itself in such heinous forms as ethnic cleansing, genocide, false jihad, terrorism, and the gun-centered, shoot-'em-up American culture.

Joe is right. We have to STOP. But we as people of faith also have to witness out loud to the true message of peace that forms the center of all our religions. Not a popular stance in an economy that revolves around violence, from defense contractors to the music industry.

[antonyh]

This discussion brings to mind the Fifth Mindfulness Training by Thich Nhat Hanh at Plum Village:

"Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I am committed to cultivating good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by practicing mindful eating, drinking, and consuming. I will ingest only items that preserve peace, well-being, and joy in my body, in my consciousness, and in the collective body and consciousness of my family and society. I am determined not to use alcohol or any other intoxicant or to ingest foods or other items that contain toxins, such as certain TV programs, magazines, books, films, and conversations. I am aware that to damage my body or my consciousness with these poisons is to betray my ancestors, my parents, my society, and future generations. I will work to transform violence, fear, anger, and confusion in myself and in society by practicing a diet for myself and for society. I understand that a proper diet is crucial for self-transformation and for the transformation of society."

[Zerbie]

That's a lovely quote Antony, thanks for sharing.

Joe: You might want to submit that as a letter to the editor. Please! It needs to be addressed.

I think I tend to be a little oblivious to the "violence-permeated culture" because I have such a strong aversion to it, myself. I have always been unable to watch shoot-'em up movies, with the result that I rarely watch ANY. When friends have insisted that I see some now and then, I wind up unable to sleep for up to 2 weeks at a time. I cry at "Bambi." I don't understand how anyone can endure seeing those movies, much less enjoy them. :sick:

Do I need to go live in a bubble? :confused:

[Vanessa White]

I agree with Zerbie, Joe, on two points. Definitely letter to the editor material. I also tend to not realize how permeated we are with the violent depictions, because I rarely watch anything with those images. Neither does my daughter, and she was at a birthday party this weekend playing a game with several boys and girls based on some violent/scary movie that the boy whose party it was I guess had been allowed to watch, and my daughter is just totally disconnected from it, thankfully. I really love Harry Potter and superhero movies, but am concerned about her seeing future installments because they seem to get darker with each new chapter. Each time the shock has to be a little higher in order to get the same level of attention and response, at least that is what I think motivates it in part. Like with most any issue we discuss here, our apathy is outright compliance. We need to be actively speaking out about this stuff. Thanks for bringing it to my awareness Joe, Vanessa :love:

[Joe Brummer]

I agree with Zerbie, Joe, on two points. Definitely letter to the editor material. I also tend to not realize how permeated we are with the violent depictions, because I rarely watch anything with those images. Neither does my daughter, and she was at a birthday party this weekend playing a game with several boys and girls based on some violent/scary movie that the boy whose party it was I guess had been allowed to watch, and my daughter is just totally disconnected from it, thankfully. I really love Harry Potter and superhero movies, but am concerned about her seeing future installments because they seem to get darker with each new chapter. Each time the shock has to be a little higher in order to get the same level of attention and response, at least that is what I think motivates it in part. Like with most any issue we discuss here, our apathy is outright compliance. We need to be actively speaking out about this stuff. Thanks for bringing it to my awareness Joe, Vanessa :love:

I submitted this to the USA Today, The NY Times and the Providence Journal.

The USA Today emailed me and declined.
The Providence Journal asked me to cut it down to 250 words and I find that impossible and the NY Times didn't respond at all.

[Daniel]

Joe- it's hard, but you can actually trim it to 250 words. The message will still be there. Like a Haiku perhaps, but it WILL be there, which is important, right? Distill your message down to the most important points(s) and then take out all the unncessary words and repeated thoughts.

[Jamie McDaniel]

We as a country spend enormous amounts of money supporting this culture of violence. We flock to the theater for each new “shoot em up, kill em” movie as each one becomes more violent than the last.

Joe, Mike White (Mel's movie-making son), has an opinion piece in today's New York Times that you will find interesting.

Making a Killing (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/02/opinion/02white.html?_r=1&oref=slogin)

[Joe Brummer]

That was a great article. I had no idea that the screenwriter for "School of Rock" was Mel's son. Being a musician who grew up listening to the music featured in the film, I loved it.

He makes so many great points in his article, but I fear that the message is falling on many a deaf ear. We as a society have become entrenched in violence to such a degree, I wonder to myself how it could ever be changed.

I can only live by example of peace and hope it is contageous.

I had an awe kind of moment today at the gym that might warm some hearts. I have been reading "The Story of My Experiments With The Truth" which is Gandhi's autobiography. I find it makes the time on the cardio machines go much faster while enlightening me and calming me at the same time. While I was doing my workout, I young guy came up to me and noted that I was reading Gandhi. He said "Wow, it isn't everyday you see someone reading Gandhi at the gym". We talked a little and I explained that I am a certified nonviolence trainer and that I teach in the schools and currently I am working to teach some young folks in Juvey hall. He explained that he has just finished his masters degree in Conflict resolution.

I was thrilled to hear of such a young guy who is interested in Peace work! This was a wondeful boost in my day!

[BrentRichards]

I explained that I am a certified nonviolence trainer

Joe ... how do you go about becoming a certified nonviolence trainer ... who offers certification? I'm fascinated.

[Joe Brummer]

I was went through a five week training of trainers at the Institute for the Study and Practice of nonviolence, but if you search the web you will find other places that do nonviolence training. It depends on where you live.

[BrentRichards]

cool, thanks!

[u-dog]

I have also been thinking about doing some training of that sort. The Pastor of the MCC church here took training with Soulforce prior to an action in Lynchburg some years back. If he is an example of what they "turn out" then I want some. He is a real "steel Magnolia" a granite fist in a velvet glove. He confronts and confronts and confronts and never loses his cool or his grace. People jump on him with both feet and he never stops treating them respectfully.