Do you remember the riots that sprang up in the summer of
2020 following the death of George Floyd?
How about the media coverage that emphasized that violence, which
accompanied the protests from Seattle to Atlanta, was regrettable but certainly
understandable?
Look back on January 6, a year ago, when a crowd of Trump
supporters brought mayhem to the U.S. Capitol building. A few hours after the rioting began, the
President commended the participants for their devotion to him and
half-heartedly asked them to go home.
Did one episode beget the other? Or did it merely add to the increasing trend
in America to excuse, justify and ignore violence when it comes from one’s own
side?
That is dangerous indeed.
Social pressure – more than legal constraints – controls human
behavior. Tolerance for violence –
including tepid condemnation – loosens inhibitions for many. That affects both those whose side is the
instigator as well as the target.
That fact brings new meaning to the folly of using a double-edged
sword. Violence will not only be
reciprocated, but it will be employed more frequently by one’s own side.
Is Armageddon America’s destination? Violence must not be tolerated or
excused. Period. Are we really drifting toward the disorder
that marks third world countries?
Another possible example:
shooting of (not by) police officers.
There certainly seems to be an epidemic of them recently – many actually
seem to be assassinations. Have they
been encouraged (one certainly hopes inadvertently) by the hostility toward law
enforcement displayed by certain political and community leaders encapsulated
in the “Defund Police” slogan?
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