What is the cause of the contagion that is taking over our country?
On August 5, 2019, President Trump said in his address that the El Paso shooting was consumed by hate and is a part of an evil contagion. Since I heard his address, I‘ve been thinking about his reference to “contagion” (a polite word for poison).
Two things underlie this poison: hatred and control.
Hatred is simply a mindset. It underlies every murder, negative action. Can’t we overcome it with laws for exhibiting hatred around any other human being? If we make the penalties harsh enough, most people would fear punishment and probably eliminate their actions and thoughts of hatred.
Control is another mindset but is much more difficult to deal with than hatred. Every religious group tries to control other spiritual groups, and murderers have killed more people in the name of religion than for any other reason.
Politicians being nasty to each other also have problems with the second mindset; they try to control more domain than they have the authority to deal with. Ditto for murderers who kill to send a message to a particular group. So, the inability to manage control creates much of the poison ravaging our country and literally killing people.
Killing others is not a way to control them; it is a way to remove the person from the world so you no longer must accept them. Everyone has a right to live in peace, and this action is always wrong!
We can overcome our contagion by removing
both hatred and control from our lives.
How can we do this?
Hate laws.
We should create “hate laws” that make everyone think twice about exhibiting hatred toward anyone. Perhaps we could sentence those who violate these laws to live the rest of their lives on Alcatraz Island.
Supplanting Control
In addition to dealing with hatred, we must replace control with honesty and respect.
Not every person in authority deserves respect. Some parents deserve none at all, like my friends’ mom who died recently, “Elisa” in this article. Elisa listened to her oldest daughter who planted negative ideas in her head about her younger child. Then she died and left my friend out of her will. Of course, it turned out that someone had spent all of her Mother’s money, so less than $3,000 remained at the time she died. So being left out of her will wasn’t a big deal. But the person in authority, the mother, was wrong to have listened to Donna’s negativity and completely cut off her younger child. Donna, with the authoritative position of caring for their mom, shouldn’t have alienated my friend. My friend has rightfully no respect for her mother or her older sister.
Yes, there are individuals in power who deserve no respect.
But…
those who have public authority should set the example of respect for everyone without negativity for any other human being. This means that every leader needs to exemplify the acceptance of others with different views. They need to refrain from making any negative comments about all of their colleagues and work with everyone regardless of political persuasion.
Our nation looks to Washington for role models. Since some Americans copy their behavior, leaders who set poor examples might as well be murderers themselves. If only all of our leaders would work together, others might begin to duplicate their acceptance of others who are different from themselves.
When our leaders eliminate their hatred and control issues, our contagion will begin to subside.
Yes, there is a cure for the horrible contagion that leads to mass murders and other negative actions. Our leaders must set a standard of zero tolerance for any poisonous words of behaviors, beginning with themselves.
We can reverse our contagion!
Let the encouraging words in these bobbiejrae posts help you
soar like an eagle above life’s storms.
Repeat after me: Yes, I can overcome my hatred!
First, I must make room for peace.
I must eliminate poison
and think differently.
