To stop the killings, examine our problems from their roots

Enough is enough. Another senseless mass shooting. More politically-correct banter about gun control. A seemingly endless line of talking heads filling the airwaves with assurances that “this doesn't define our community” and “we stand with those who were targeted in this attack,” etc.

When is this going to stop? I submit to you that it won't as long as we continue to ignore the root of the problem.

Murder is as old as humanity. We've been killing each other since the dawn of humankind. Why is this? Generally speaking – excluding situations where a killer is mentally ill or can't control his/her behavior – we kill others when we perceive them to be a threat to us, or to our loved ones. We may kill when someone has done something to hurt us physically or emotionally. These reasons for killing are considered just by some.

Conversely, some kill to get something that they want from someone else, when they feel that their way of life is threatened, when their religious beliefs dictate that they must, or when they disagree with another's lifestyle. I don't believe that any rational human being would consider any of these reasons to be just.

We humans also have a knack for destruction. We destroy, directly or through neglect, that which holds little value to us or has lesser value relative to other priorities in our lives. Some of this is intentional, some is not.

The point I'm trying to make here is that intentionally taking the life of another human being, when not provoked by physical danger, is rooted in the life of the victim not being valued by the attacker. And to stop something, you've got to attack the root of the problem.

In the vernacular of a gardener, this failure to acknowledge human value – hatred, if you will - is the root of a weed. The stem and leaves of this “weed” are the manifestations or expressions of this hatred: hate crimes, mass shootings, terror attacks, homicide.

In our efforts to stop the “weeds” from spreading, we seem to put the majority of our energy and resources into snipping the “stems” and “leaves” through gun control, laws, prisons, diversity training, etc. - some of which have merit to a degree and may have a positive effect in the short term. However, to eliminate a weed for good, you've got to pull it out by the roots.

Those with hate in their hearts who attach little or no value to human life will find a way to kill, regardless of how easy it is to find the means. No training or threat of legal consequence is going to stop them. The stem and the leaves will grow back and may actually spawn more weeds.

Why is it that so many place such a low value on human life that they are willing to destroy it? And what are we going to do about it? These are the issues that we need to address. There are no simple answers and many of them will require deep soul-searching and bringing into the light much that is dark and ugly in our world, our communities, our homes.

But address it we must, if we hope to pull up the one root that matters.

The writer lives in Murrells Inlet.

This story was originally published August 15, 2016 at 5:21 PM with the headline "To stop the killings, examine our problems from their roots."