bang bang; you're dead.

Here are some words to live by:

"I think the only choice that will enable us to hold to our vision. . . is one that abandons the concept of naming enemies and adopts a concept familiar to the nonviolent tradition: naming behavior that is oppressive" - Barbara Deming


It happened in the space of one weekend. 62 times by so called mass murderers, hell bent on revenge for some wrong or slight. Children, mothers, fathers, cops all killed by someone for some reason we may or may not know.

We didn’t count the individual killings across the country.

Sadly, most of us heard the news and moved on to the next story on the evening news or in our newspaper, covered in the same way they’d cover a traffic accident or a store opening – 30 or 45 seconds of video with someone saying something about the tragic incident, then moving to the next story.

We have become a nation so numb to violence that when we hear about a mass killing we just don’t react. Violence is so pervasive in our society we just don’t care.

Who do you blame? Lax gun laws? Obama? The UN? Not having a fully armed citizenry?

We need to get to the root of the problem.

Us.

We love our violence. Whether it’s video games, absurdly violent movies, pro wrestling, football highlight reels, cage fighting, cock fighting, dog fighting, hunting pigs and wolves from helicopters… the list goes on and on ad nauseum (find a Latin student if you don’t know what that means).

It’s sickening. It’s pathetic that as a society we get such a kick out of watching or participating in events designed to kill, maim or make bleed.

The reality of violence is now a blur, clouded by video games, movies and TV shows.

Today’s video games can be so realistic, so true to life. You see the blood, you see the gore, you see the pain; you see the carnage on a 42 inch TV in graphic detail.

Worst of all, we let our children play these games without a second thought.

We let them watch the movies and play video games designed specifically to offer the viewer as much killing as possible in as many ways as possible.

Not only that, we seem to honor violence as some sort of right of passage (check out any small town newspaper to see photos of eight-year-olds with their first hunting kill).

You are a product of your environment. Considering what we present to ourselves and our children, why should any of us be surprised when Johnny takes a gun and opens fire on his classmates or the man upset because he lost his job takes it out on co-workers with every gun he or she can get their hands on?

We’re not. It doesn’t even faze us any more. We’re used to the daily violence, whether it’s in Pennsylvania, Iraq or Oklahoma.

We claim to be a nation wedded to our faith. Most religions of the world teach peace and love. They encourage kindness and good deeds.

Now we use religion as an excuse for killing (an eye for an eye and all that Bible quoting stuff).

Why are we not just allowing but encouraging violence?

What has happened to us?

Simple.

We are a society that believes violence solves problems. It's the macho things to do. It's easier than actually sitting down and working to solve a problem (although on TV, movies and video games, violence is the solution we present - dont' ever forget that).

It's time for us to stop the violence. It starts at home. It starts with the idea that everyone deserves to live, that violence never solves a problem.

Violence is easy.

"Non-violence leads to the highest ethics which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages. - Thomas Alva Edison.

Perhaps Edison's quote will turn on the light bulb inside our collective heads.

Until then, until that day comes when we finally figure it out, we'll continue to kill each other at an alarming rate.

How much longer can you stomach all that hate?