A call for personal action
There's a lot that could be said about yesterday's tragic shooting of Congresswoman Giffords. Much of it has been said by other people, better than I could hope to achieve.
I think what bothers me almost as much as the original, horrific act, however, is the determination some people have to view the shooting as a single, independent event.
This was not an isolated incident. Members of congress are receiving death threats on a daily basis. They, their offices, and their staffs, are targets of vandalism and violence. At the same time, there is an escalating rhetoric of violence in political discourse. Phrases such as "don't retreat, reload," and having to resort to "2nd Amendment remedies" are thrown around as if they are meaningless. Images of cross-hairs and bulls-eyes are used to mark opponents.
Most of us do the same thing ourselves, on a much smaller scale: "he should be taken out back and shot"; "I could just kill her right now"; "I want to smack him so bad." Images of guns and rape, murder and disfigurement, can fall off of our tongues with little or no thought to what we actually mean.
We can't stop politicians from perpetuating the rhetoric of violence.
What we can do is stop using it ourselves.
I pledge to you, right now, that I will do my best to stop using violent language and metaphors, no matter how angry I am. I will undoubtedly mess up now and then, but I will keep trying.
I'm asking you to try, with me, and perhaps to encourage your friends and family to make the same pledge.
Words matter, and the words we don't say can matter just as much as the ones we do. Who knows - maybe if I stop using violent language, and you stop, and our friends stop, maybe one day it will spread as far as Capital Hill, and we'll be able to witness a political campaign season free of violence in advertising.
This entry was originally posted at http://archane.dreamwidth.org/599133.html. You can view
comments there, or add your own using an Open ID login.
I think what bothers me almost as much as the original, horrific act, however, is the determination some people have to view the shooting as a single, independent event.
This was not an isolated incident. Members of congress are receiving death threats on a daily basis. They, their offices, and their staffs, are targets of vandalism and violence. At the same time, there is an escalating rhetoric of violence in political discourse. Phrases such as "don't retreat, reload," and having to resort to "2nd Amendment remedies" are thrown around as if they are meaningless. Images of cross-hairs and bulls-eyes are used to mark opponents.
Most of us do the same thing ourselves, on a much smaller scale: "he should be taken out back and shot"; "I could just kill her right now"; "I want to smack him so bad." Images of guns and rape, murder and disfigurement, can fall off of our tongues with little or no thought to what we actually mean.
We can't stop politicians from perpetuating the rhetoric of violence.
What we can do is stop using it ourselves.
I pledge to you, right now, that I will do my best to stop using violent language and metaphors, no matter how angry I am. I will undoubtedly mess up now and then, but I will keep trying.
I'm asking you to try, with me, and perhaps to encourage your friends and family to make the same pledge.
Words matter, and the words we don't say can matter just as much as the ones we do. Who knows - maybe if I stop using violent language, and you stop, and our friends stop, maybe one day it will spread as far as Capital Hill, and we'll be able to witness a political campaign season free of violence in advertising.
This entry was originally posted at http://archane.dreamwidth.org/599133.html. You can view
comments there, or add your own using an Open ID login.