The LuLac Edition #3526, June 7th, 2017

WRITE ON WEDNESDAY

Our "Write On Wednesday" logo.

This week we have a submission from Dr. and author Joseph Leonardi on gun violence. It is indeed thought provoking and examines the relationship with fire arms and the human condition.

Inherent Violence

by Joseph Leonardi

BANG!
A gunshot rings out, and many feel fear.
BANG, BANG!
Gunshots ring out, and many drop for cover.
BANG, BANG, BANG!
Gunshots ring out, and many run away.
BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG!
Gunshots ring out, and a few run toward.
BANG!
A gunshot finds the mark, and someone is hurt.
BANG, BANG!
Gunshots find their mark, and some have fallen.
BANG, BANG, BANG!
Gunshots find their mark, and many are dead.
The gun is the instrument, the tool, the device to accomplish the act.
The gun is not the cause, the gun is not the concern, the gun is not the fault.
Man threatens man.
We often don’t understand why.
Man harms man.
We often don’t understand why.
Man kills man.
We often don’t understand why.
Man has done harm to his fellow man since there was man. 
The mechanism to harm has changed, but the intent remains the same.
The roots of violence are pre-historic.
The displays of viciousness are even chronicled in the word of God.
To understand, we seek to lay blame at the apparatus and thus, absolve man.
We choose not to grasp that the machinery of violence, of harm, of destruction and death, is itself that which is most difficult to understand. 
It is not the arsenal that is in the hand, it is that which is contained within the being.
The base cause of violence and destruction is the mind of man.
Tragically, this is the history of man.