Saturday was a tragic day for all Americans, no matter your political persuasion, as the shooting occurred in Tucson, Arizona by a psychotic gunman, which killed six people and gravely wounded Congresswoman Giffords. We've had altogether too many such days in our lifetime: remember Oklahoma City and Timothy McVeigh. JFK, Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert Kennedy, Mahatma Ghandi, Malcolm X, to name a few of the most prominent.
Senseless tragedies will always occur. Let's face it, life doesn't always make sense. At certain periods in our lives, however, the moral climate can contribute to such tragedies. One such time is now.
I refuse to go the obvious route of so many commentators who see this latest tragedy as the result of extreme right wing hatred. No doubt, there is plenty of such hate out there. Let's establish one fact: extreme rhetoric and actions are not the province strictly of the far right; they can be seen in the rhetoric and actions of the extreme left, as well. Polarized positions are frequently set in concrete and are hard to crack.
We are in a time of our life when the abililty to communicate, to discuss, to listen are sorely neglected. We would rather talk and take the next step, rant, than have a measured dialogue between competing views. Extreme positions are nothing new, they are part of life. At our best times we have been able to cut through the fog of noise and irrational ranting and find the truth. Right now we are having one helluva time doing so.
If it takes a tragedy such as Tucson to drive this point home, then let us hope we can take time to pause, reflect and begin to listen to competing views and to seek answers together.
I suggest an archaic, almost obsolete word, civility. It is a word that conjures up old-fashioned values, like respect, attention and tolerance. If we can learn to be civil and teach it to succeeding generations, we won't eliminate tragedies, but we will have a chance to lessen their frequency and impact. If we can listen to each other, we may learn new things and reach new understandings. It's worth the try.
Just as left wing radicals created a climate of violence in the late 60's and early 70's, I would maintain that the right wing HAS created that climate now. Who has been on the airwaves fomenting hate and intolerance? Who was confronting Congresspersons during the health bill debate with shouting, screaming, guns and racist signs? You reap what you sow.
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