Pacifism is defined as: “opposition to war or violence as a resort in the settlement of disputes,” according to the dictionary. On the other hand, the word pacify is defined: “to bring or restore to a state of peace or tranquility; quiet; calm.” While seeking to reconcile the two different definitions, it seems that one is opposed to war or violence and the other requires qualities that can restore peace and tranquility to a situation or person. Observing the recent upheaval taking place in the countries of the Middle East with the riots that have broken out and the bloodshed that has been occurring as a result of the riots, there seems to be little evidence that pacifism is at work in these locations. Our nation allows for peaceful demonstrations and gatherings of citizens to express their opinions on various issues. Recently, the media has been following the development of the group known as Occupy Wall Street. It has been somewhat difficult to determine exactly what those who have joined together are really wanting. There seems to be an element of non violent protest about culture and cultural issues. There seems to be no real clearly defined answers as to why these groups have sprung up. Some of the people in these groups are there with clearly defined motives and with agendas about change they want to see brought about in our culture. Other members of these groups seem to have just joined in because it looked like a party they would like to be in on, and with not so clear ideas as to why they are there or what it will take to pacify their desire. It is the uncertainty that has caught my attention.
Being an advocate with passionate opinions, I have been with various groups with which I agree and with others that have opposing viewpoints, yet just as passionate in their belief system. Opposing points of view have never bothered me. That might come as a surprise to many who read this column, but I have been around controversial ideas long enough to know that we do not always agree on every point in culture. Freedom of speech and press is enjoyed in our country. For that truth I am thankful. The one area that does bring great concern for me is when one side tries to one-up the other by using tactics that are designed to silence the other side. There should be no fear when we express our opinions knowing the only response will be to belittle or make fun of those with differing viewpoints. Rather than engaging in mature conversation when some people hold to a different opinion, the tendency is to lapse into the wrestle mania mode and try to scratch the eyes out of the person with another viewpoint. It is most likely too much to ask, but it seems we should be able to approach differing viewpoints with an allowance for each side to express their opinions without fear that they are going to be held up to a fancy public humiliation tactic by one side or the other.
With the onslaught of the blogosphere which allows for name calling, and opinions expressed by fake named contributors, there is now the belief that anything goes when trying to make the side with which one disagrees to look as foolish as possible. The unfortunate aspect of this new media is that it retrofits to a day in journalism known as “Yellow Journalism.” A time when anyone could say anything they wanted about a public or private citizen and have it printed in the newspaper with no proof of the charges. The attitude behind “Yellow Journalism” reveals the wrong motives of those who use it.
Opinions and preferences are now stated as cold hard facts, rather than opinions and preferences. From what I have seen, many within the groups that are currently occupying public places are doing so with little or no real understanding of the freedoms they enjoy and the advantages they have being citizens of this great nation. We need only look at the other nations of the world to see how quickly these peaceful demonstrations have turned violent with physical harm as the outcome which has brought no solution to their issues. This has yet to happen in our country, thankfully. It seems no matter how much tolerance is exercised toward these pacifists groups, they refuse to be pacified.
Ray Newman
Friday, October 28, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Treat life with respect and dignity
There are two issues I feel passionate about that touch our culture every day. The first one is the right-to-life that all of us have. I am an activist and an advocate for life issues. Life begins at conception and is to continue until the giver of life determines the natural end. In 1987, a small pro-life ministry based 45 miles north of Sacramento, California, held the first Life Chain observance as they built America’s first chain through the towns of Yuba City and Marysville, California, according to their website. Last Sunday, across the country there were people who stood for one hour in silent prayer standing up for the unborn in communities throughout North America. Life is valuable and vital, and should be treated with dignity and respect.
Being an advocate for life also causes me to share another passion of my belief system. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Over these many years in my profession, having sat on my side of the desk and listened to stories of spouse and child abuse, my heart has softened for those who are abused and has hardened my heart toward the abusers. One of the things I have learned as an advocate for raising awareness of domestic violence is that there is not one level of society left out when it comes to violence being used against other human beings. Often, the most kept secret about violence is that it covers every level of educational, economic, political, social and even spiritual layers of our culture. There is no place where domestic violence can ever be accepted by me.
Often those who are the victims of violence are so intimidated they suffer alone. Too many times the person who preys upon others does so as a master-bully. We have been seeing stories recently in the media about bullies at schools or neighborhoods, but we also know that the person, who preys upon another, wherever the act occurs, is a coward and a bully. Domestic violence can be inflicted in several ways. There is not always the striking of another person, but the intimidation that occurs as a means of control when a person expresses episodes of rage against someone else. The person, who is the prey of another, soon learns the best way to give in and give up is to keep the predator from going into a fit of rage. That is abusive behavior. There is more than just the need for anger management when a person is controlling another by the use of anger or rage. Over these many years of observing the behavior of the controlling person, it almost always escalates to hitting. The early moments of abuse could be the use of words expressed in anger, but soon, it changes to hitting or even restraining another person until the abuser can force their way on the person being abused. In recent months the media has been filled with stories of murder and mayhem that has been rooted in domestic violence victims. There seems to be more stories, recently, of couples who once stood before a preacher or judge and each pledged their love for the other, but grew apart to the point of violence erupting into the taking of a life.
The majority of the time when the domestic violence spills over into murder or assault, the coward, that is the predator, has to build up strength to commit such a heinous crime with the use of alcohol or some other drug. A person out of control of a situation is persuaded they are superhuman once they have ingested some drug. These domestic cowards must think that once they have inflicted enough pain on the one being abused that they will prove a point. The point they prove is they are cowards and bullies and deserve swift punishment for the abuse and harm they have inflicted on someone else. We know that many times the coward inflicting the harm to someone else is much stronger and bigger than the person they are abusing. The shame of our culture is that we have to force the abused person to jump through too many legal hoops to receive help and many times it is too late when they have been killed by the abusing bully. There can be help available by calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1.800.787.3224. Life is vital and valuable, and must be treated with respect and dignity.
Ray Newman: Copyright October, 2011
Being an advocate for life also causes me to share another passion of my belief system. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Over these many years in my profession, having sat on my side of the desk and listened to stories of spouse and child abuse, my heart has softened for those who are abused and has hardened my heart toward the abusers. One of the things I have learned as an advocate for raising awareness of domestic violence is that there is not one level of society left out when it comes to violence being used against other human beings. Often, the most kept secret about violence is that it covers every level of educational, economic, political, social and even spiritual layers of our culture. There is no place where domestic violence can ever be accepted by me.
Often those who are the victims of violence are so intimidated they suffer alone. Too many times the person who preys upon others does so as a master-bully. We have been seeing stories recently in the media about bullies at schools or neighborhoods, but we also know that the person, who preys upon another, wherever the act occurs, is a coward and a bully. Domestic violence can be inflicted in several ways. There is not always the striking of another person, but the intimidation that occurs as a means of control when a person expresses episodes of rage against someone else. The person, who is the prey of another, soon learns the best way to give in and give up is to keep the predator from going into a fit of rage. That is abusive behavior. There is more than just the need for anger management when a person is controlling another by the use of anger or rage. Over these many years of observing the behavior of the controlling person, it almost always escalates to hitting. The early moments of abuse could be the use of words expressed in anger, but soon, it changes to hitting or even restraining another person until the abuser can force their way on the person being abused. In recent months the media has been filled with stories of murder and mayhem that has been rooted in domestic violence victims. There seems to be more stories, recently, of couples who once stood before a preacher or judge and each pledged their love for the other, but grew apart to the point of violence erupting into the taking of a life.
The majority of the time when the domestic violence spills over into murder or assault, the coward, that is the predator, has to build up strength to commit such a heinous crime with the use of alcohol or some other drug. A person out of control of a situation is persuaded they are superhuman once they have ingested some drug. These domestic cowards must think that once they have inflicted enough pain on the one being abused that they will prove a point. The point they prove is they are cowards and bullies and deserve swift punishment for the abuse and harm they have inflicted on someone else. We know that many times the coward inflicting the harm to someone else is much stronger and bigger than the person they are abusing. The shame of our culture is that we have to force the abused person to jump through too many legal hoops to receive help and many times it is too late when they have been killed by the abusing bully. There can be help available by calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1.800.787.3224. Life is vital and valuable, and must be treated with respect and dignity.
Ray Newman: Copyright October, 2011
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