Our History of
Violence
By
Joseph E. Mulligan,
S.J.
On December 14 a mentally
disturbed young man killed twenty children and six adults in a school in
Newtown, Conn.
That night, Bill
O’Reilly of Fox News asked: “Why do things like this happen so much in the United
States?” The answer to this key question must include, in addition to the
prevalence of weapons in our society, our history of military violence, which
now features the use of drones to kill targeted terrorists but which almost
always includes the slaughter of some civilians. Throughout Latin America, we
have a consistent history of supporting military dictatorships and training
their troops who have perpetrated massacres of children far more massive than
that of Newtown.
Those of us who defend the
right to life of all persons must be all-inclusive in our struggle.
In
comparison with video games and movies, our military violence may have a
more powerful impact on us since it is not reality show; it is reality. The
killings are done by our government, in our name, and are considered
legitimate.
Our use
of nuclear weapons at the end of World War II and our readiness to use them
again, our torturing of prisoners during the George W. Bush administration, and
our “targeted assassinations” teach the American public that the human person
is not inviolable and that life can be deliberately taken when “necessary.”
Similarly, the death penalty –
the cold-blooded, premeditated killing of a person – proclaims that our
authorities and public do not really consider the right to life sacred.
We must
also analyze our culture of violence: video games, movies and TV, music,
and even our increasingly rough sports. Living in this culture predisposes us
to hurt and even kill when we deem it “necessary.”
The easy availability of weapons
of war in our society is only one of the factors contributing to our barbarous
behavior. Of course, guns must be controlled, since they turn aggravated
assault into murder or massacre.
Another
fact of contemporary American life which plays a part in the upsurge of mass
murders in recent years is the reduction in budgets of mental health
departments. Those who advocate the gutting of government services have left us
vulnerable to the crazed behavior of sick people who have fallen through the
increasingly larger cracks in the system.
Dealing
with our epidemic of mass murder is a multi-faceted challenge which can no
longer be ignored.
The author is a Jesuit priest from Detroit who works in
Nicaragua.
