Saturday, September 17, 2005
Lords of Violence
What is with all of the gun violence in our city this year?
I have only seen statistics from last year,
and the number of shootings and killings is up.
The violence is mostly gang and drug related,
and is occurring in specific neighbourhoods of the city,
and although I don't live in those neighbourhoods,
it is very disturbing.
People that live in the city,
are happy that the violence is confined to these certain
neighbourhoods, because it doesn't affect them.
It's no different than the wide gap in New Orleans
between the rich and the poor,
that was seen after Katrina blew through.
Suburban people are happy that the violence is in the city,
and the wealthy people in the city are happy that
the violence is in 'those' neighbourhoods.
I know the Police, and some community leaders
are doing more to end the violence,
including a large gang bust just the other night.
But do the people of the city who live outside of these areas,
really care?
I'd hope so,
but I'm not sure that they do.
And I'm sure that most suburbanites don't care,
as long as it stays in the city.
How wrong is that?
Are we really that uncaring?
What's really going on?
DB
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2 comments:
Honestly? We are that uncaring. I'm happy that it's not happening in my town. What can we really do to stop it? Pester the mayor enough to get on the backs of the police so that they do more to get the guns off the street?
I saw on the news about the big crackdown and all the guns they picked up but really, considering how many guns are out there it's a drop in the bucket. They'd have to be making busts like that once a week to start making a dent. They do a one day sweep, pick up a few punks and what seems like a lot of guns, get it all over the news, but then it doesn't end up changing anything.
How do you change a culture of violence? I'm trying to raise my kids to be peaceful. I hope it works. I hope it makes a little difference in the world. What else can we do?
On Sunday one of the petitions in our prayers was:
"You call all who are peacemakers blessed and we give thanks for those who have led in this way. We ask for continued insight and the will to wage peace in our troubled and war-torn world. God of steadfast love,
hear our prayer.
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