Looking recently at Madison Wisconsin and today London, it seems that violence… the preferred method of change in the Arab world… has finally infected the West as well.

Not to our credit, I might add.

One of the great tragedies of human history is that we have always confused e-volution with revolution.  Re-volution, especially violent re-volution, has always been just that: a return trip around a failed and worn out path strewn with the casualties of war.

Is it conceivable we will allow ourselves to be led like lambs to slaughter down that road yet again?  To watch the youth in England today destroying everything in their path, its an easy leap to conclude the answer is “Yes.”

I don’t blame them.  I blame us.

They’re young.  They learned from us.  As too many of us in positions of responsibility remained silent, those with an agenda crept into our schools, universities and, more insidiously, into our children’s minds.  The young want what they want and they want it now… and if they can’t have it… well… they’re being encouraged by those with a hidden agenda to believe that violence is an acceptable expression of their discontent.

Our children grew up in a world where media violence, instant gratification, material acquisition, power for its own sake, and government subsidies were and remain the norm.   By example, we have taught them poorly.  And while we were neglecting our responsibility to the future, others were all too ready and willing to embrace it.

Now, if we allowed it to reach this point, it must be we who puts an end to it.

How?

By rapidly and visibly changing the way we do things.

By assuming responsibility for our every thought, word and deed.

By reprioritizing our time and our expression of what we value.

By acting like competent, capable adults able to make hard choices so the young have something, and someone, to emulate.

We’re running out of time.  Let’s not waste a moment.  Decide what you value.  Speak of it often.  Live it with certainty.

Before the momentum of violence becomes irreversible, join in the e-volution.  It’s a higher road that leads to a grander view.

Oh, and did I mention?… peace.

 

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