Violence By Words, By Deeds, and By Guns

This past week, we have witnessed further examples of the violence that can be perpetrated by words and by guns. Imus' words attacked the Rutgers team members and caused a firestorm of protests, which led to the killing of his career, at least temporarily. And the foreign student at Virginia Tech, who attacked students and professors with lethal guns and a mass murderer's ferocity, resulting in the killing of 32 persons and himself, so far.

These are only recent examples of the violence lurking in the American culture. Far worse, is the violence being inflicted on Iraq, where we invaded on a pretext, and where numerous horrific killings are a daily occurrence, and where the daily death toll, often far exceeds the number just reported killed on the Virginia Tech campus.

Then we have the violence of poverty; the violence of inadequate health care; the violence of video games; the violence of discriminative criminal sentencing; the violence of drugs and it's culture; the violence of unemployment; the violence in television and cable programming; the violence in the words of the numerous 'shock jocks' and racist haters on our airwaves; the violence of the NRA's promotion of the gun culture, and unrestricted and unfettered access to guns; the violence of US foreign policy around the world; the violence of our country's founding; the violence of slavery; the violence of thousands of lynchings; the violence of the Jim Crow era; the violence of no reparations; the violence of stealing the election in Florida in 2000, and in Ohio in 2004; the violence in the financing, recording and distribution of demeaning sexist and misogynistic rap records; the violence of our soldiers being returned to the war theatre multiple times, and for extended periods of time; the violence of exporting needed well-paying jobs overseas; the violence of......!

Just pick your topic, and you will find ample evidences of our history of violence - in all areas of our culture and society. We are a violent people, and should not be surprised when examples of our violence proneness erupts. We can't escape the consequences of our cultural and societal dysfunction.

The Scripture in Hosea 8:7 says, "...For they have sown the wind, and have reaped the whirlwind: ...."