I am not a political person. I tend to avoid talking about politics. Don’t mistake my silence for ignorance or complacency. I am paying attention. The problem is we as a society are addressing the wrong issue. The case of the violence in our country isn’t because of gun laws or the lack of, nor is it the video games our children and adults are playing. The facts are it is a respect and love problem. Also, it is not a new phenomenon. Violence is as human as love, greed, happiness, hunger, sex, and any other human trait.

We do not respect each other. We do not respect the rights of others. We do not respect the dignity of every human. We do not love each other.

I have heard the new mantra “it is a heart problem”. So it looks like a lot of us humans agree, violence isn’t a gun or a law problem.

It has always been a heart problem and a soul problem that existed long before guns and laws. We can not fix it. We can’t law it gone. We can’t discipline it out of our future generations. We can’t talk it gone. We can’t remove it from our country. Violence and the human capacity to commit it can not be destroyed.

All we can do is teach our kids to respect and value human life. Teach them that love and respect does not mean that they lay down and let other humans hurt them. It means you can love and respect others and protect yourself from violence that will always exist.

We can’t teach what we do not live. Set the example, or my friend you will see a world that is nothing but violence.

Alas, it may be too late.

~Lori O’Gara