Those are the enemy! They are, for the most part, the reason violence and war still exist in the 21st century.

I doubt that the young man who shot all those students and professors in Virginia yesterday was hopeful for his future. If he had not been able to get the pistols he would have come upon some other equally horrific way to deal with his feelings.

Would you like a little proof of my assertion? Look at some of the most vocal reactions to this very terrible incident. Some would have us all carry weapons; a personal take on mutually assured destruction. Some would call for the confiscation of all personally owned guns. Some would like to think it is some problem with the ethnicity of the young man and the lashing out at Koreans has begun. Some think it is entirely an American problem; the US gun culture. For some it is all the fault of the current US President...All of these "solutions" involve the threat of violence to achieve "safety" or blame or a threat to the Bill of Rights. Neither threats nor blame are solutions to violence.

Fear breads violence, which in turn, causes fear and more violence. The hate allows one to feel justified with ones violent reaction. Despair that nothing will change, that the horrible situation one is in will continue, leads to desperate and drastic actions. This is our common experience. We know this to be true!

We need to ALL begin to treat each other with the kind of understanding and respect that we would each like to receive. It is not easy and it is the ULTIMATE CHALLENGE that must be overcome before we can even think we are ready to live in a world free from violence and war. It may be impossible to achieve. I don't think we will know unless we try and we are not even close to being serious about trying!

Please do not blame Koreans. Remember the ethnicity of those responsible for Columbine and Oklahoma City. The Unabomber, a white man, terrorized America for two decades using homemade bombs...IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RACE!!!!

Over the weekend car bombs continued to go off in Bagdad. North Korea has not complied with the promise to shutdown its enrichment reactor at Youngbyon. The mayor of Nagasaki was shot dead today in the center of that huge modern city. Every day on every continent some sort of senseless violence takes place. When the massacres in Australia and Scotland happened in 1996 I don't think many blamed it on the "gun culture" of those societies. I don't remember anyone saying, "Well, after-all, the Australians are decedents of criminals so what do you expect." Or, "Hadrian built his wall for a very good reason, the Scots are a wild and unpredictable people prone to violence." If anyone suggested such nonsense it is not remembered today.

Please remember that this type of senseless violence is not unique to the United States. What happened in Switzerland in 2001? Remember the children who died at school in Osaka, Japan in that same year! Remember what that tragic young man did in Erfurt, Germany in 2002. Yes, it happens in other countries too.

We are a violent species and we have not yet learned to live together peacefully. Because I believe in God and because I believe in our species' ability to overcome all obstacles and adversity, I think we can. All who suffer are in my prayers...