That’s what we should fear. Our own fear as much as other people’s. I think no one ever made a good decision out of fear. Lots of terrible ones, though. Not just here. Not just in a parking lot in Tucson, or in the streets of Lyon, or in Sudan. But here, too. Right here in Torch Lake Township.
It’s too easy to try to top each other’s inflammatory rhetoric. Too easy to be self-righteous. Too easy to think of “the other” as stupid or venal or nuts. I have been guilty of this myself, and shame on me. We all need to be accountable for the consequences of our actions, including the things we say and how we say them. I cannot put it better than this:
“I think it’s time as a country to do a little soul-searching,” [Pima County Sheriff Clarence] Dupnik said. “The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous.” From the Arizona Republic, January 9, 2011.
You know what I think We The People ought to do? Turn off the damned television and talk to each other like human beings. Grieve for a nine year old girl whose life was stolen from her. Grieve for a federal judge, a congressional aide, and three folks in their 70s, just doing normal everyday stuff in these abnormal times, all murdered.
Hope for the full recovery of Gabrielle Giffords, duly elected in a free and fair election to represent her constituents in the Congress of the United States of America, targeted for assassination. That is not how we have agreed to do things in this country.
Do a little soul-searching.
Resist fear.
Torch Lake Views 
Molly
January 9, 2011
Amen.
Amen, amen, amen.
Thank you.
uphilldowndale
January 9, 2011
It is hard to comprehend. So very hard.
La Mirada Bob
January 9, 2011
We just got home from a special service and took our friend from Rwanda to lunch. He survived as did one younger brother. All the rest of his family died in the genocide. Is this the path America the Beautiful is on? I sure hope not.
Gerry
January 9, 2011
No, it is not.
Resist fear.
Embrace our strengths and all the good that is in us.
(Thus endeth the sermon for the day! Embrace each other, too.)
P.j. grath
January 9, 2011
How would it be–this is barely formed in my head, just having sprouted–if each of us made a point of seeking out someone we know and with whom we strongly disagree, someone whose views we find difficult to hear, and opening a real conversation with that person, encouraging the other to express his or her opinions, asking questions to make sure we understand, asking more questions to deepen thought or provoke new insights. Maybe both sides would move a little closer to each other? At the very least, we would be treating each other with respect and as human individuals, not stereotypes.
Gerry
January 9, 2011
It would certainly mark an improvement. I can’t see how we could go wrong.
flandrumhill
January 10, 2011
Well written Gerry.
P.j. that is excellent advice for all of us on the planet, not just Americans.
Sally Ann
January 9, 2011
Beautiful, Gerry. Thank you.
RTFF
January 9, 2011
As always, the voice of reason. I think people are getting lost in the right vs left, Democrat vs Republican, finger pointing. What we have here is reason and sanity vs vitriolic rhetoric and violence. The shrill voices and shouting have to stop. That’s what’s driving this craziness, not any particular ideology.
Fee
January 10, 2011
So true, Gerry, and so very sad. When did we stop seeing people with differing ideas to ourselves as people, and start seeing them as threats? I wish the injured a full recovery, and the bereaved whatever comfort they can find in their memories of the good times.
Scott Thomas Photography
January 10, 2011
Amen. It’s been a weekend of looking both inward and outward.
Gerry
January 10, 2011
I want to thank all of you for adding your thoughts. I’m going to keep working on this theme. Don’t worry, I’m not going to preach a weekly sermon! But I’m going to spend a lot of time talking to people who don’t agree with me. Talking quietly.
Katherine
January 11, 2011
Thank you for this!
isathreadsoflife
January 25, 2011
Resist fear, what a very wise advice Gerry. Fear, ignorance, intolerance, why would we not replace them by comprehension, information and acceptance of differences ? Talk to one another as you suggest, no matter how different our opinions and beliefs are may be one of the keys to suppress fear and its deadly consequences. There are so many people of goodwill in our world, wonderful examples to follow. Step by step reach out to others and start creating a more peaceful environment. Little drops of water make big rivers… Thank you for your thoughts, Gerry.
Gerry
January 25, 2011
Thank you, Isa. As it happens, I am struggling this morning with how to respond to a particular column that aroused my ire. This business of committing to civility can lead to a lot of extra work! 🙂 But I’m going to keep at it.