In the corner the child wept and covered her eyes from the fury in the next room. Explosive words and the whimpering of fear was overwhelming, as her father abused her mother with his tongue.
No hand was lifted, no bruise or wound was inflicted, yet the pain of his words was too much to bear for both mother and child. Physical wounds heal, but the damage of violent language can leave a fear that will remain forever.
Violence in the spoken and written word is everywhere, you just have to open a newspaper or watch the news on TV to be exposed to the unthinkable. Violence has become a part of our culture and it sadly has become a marketing tool like no other.
Newspapers with positive stories on the front page do not exist, and if they did, they would not sell.
It is no mystery why young people embrace violence. It is in our music, on TV, in video games, in movies, and in a way, violence has become cool. This means that the way we speak to each other is going to be more violent, as we seek to mirror our baby eating, hip hop role models.
Violence is everywhere, but so is common sense, peace and compassion. Unfortunately the latter is not as well marketed. For us to remove violence as a culture, we need to create another culture that is more positive. To create this culture the media, movies, TV and all people must accept the responsibility to change. Sadly I don’t see this happening as there is no money in such a cause; but there are people who embrace peace and love, and each one can make a difference.
Unfortunately the hardest part of acquiring wisdom is to live it and that is what we need. We need to learn how to live without violence, before we can talk with peace.
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