How did we ever become so accepting of the idea that those who can blow up and smash and destroy the most things, and kill the most people, are the ones best qualified and most deserving to be in charge of deciding how things go? Of deciding how the problem is to be resolved? Yikes!!
Say we applied that criteria to a problem at home, in our family? Blow up the house and kill…? (I can’t even write it!) What about problems at school? Burn down the school and…? For problems in our community? Blow up our bridges, roads, community centers, hospitals, power stations, girls’ school next to the Armory? (Oops. Mistake. Too bad about that last one. But “oops” doesn’t undo it. The girls are dead. So we turn to talking about the price of gas, not worrying about the forever sadness of those girls’ families, and the preciousness of their lives, ended. We don’t even know their names.)
This doesn’t make sense! It is so wasteful, so cruel, so ridiculous. And it leads to others thinking they must retaliate, be cruel back.
When there is a problem, even a hard problem, isn’t it wiser to figure out the roots of the problem and the reasons for the others’ perspectives? To listen, to learn. To know these people. To ask help from others who have had experiences different than ours? To use alternatives that have been proven to be effective in problem-solving (and are effective in preventing war)?
Alternatives to destruction and death and cruelty are here. We can choose to use them. We ask it of our children, our families, our communities. Let us ask it of our nation. Now.