Violence does not solve anything
More deaths are inevitable and the original issues remain unresolved
VIOLENCE begets violence.
It achieves nothing, other than to promote retaliation and escalation to even more violence.
And yet, for many this seems to be the preferred way to address problems and opposition standing in one’s way.
We appear to be a nation unable or unwilling to resolve conflict other than through violence and force.
Witness the many domestic violence incidents that end up as murders and suicides, often claiming the lives of innocent children.
Inevitably, despite what would have been a longstanding history of abuse and conflict, mediation or counselling intervention would have been ignored or disregarded.
Taxi wars show a similar pattern. Despite proof, they merely stoke up more vengeance and retribution, the way of the gun always seems to prevail.
More deaths are inevitable and the original issues remain unresolved.
The present university unrest, with millions of rands worth of facilities being destroyed, is yet another example of the futility of violence as an option for resolving disputes.
However worthy one might deem a cause to be, the way of destruction can never lead to a peaceful outcome.
Will we ever learn, as we sit in the ruins, that the way of violence and aggression is a one-way street towards loss for everyone on all sides of the argument?
On a local, personal and extremely tragic level, our community this week witnessed the brazen gunning down of a man as he drove along the John Ross Parkway.
Without knowing the motive and background, this was obviously a planned and executed hit – once again, the route of violence was taken chosen to deal with evident conflict.
At whatever level and in whatever space the above manifests itself, at the root of it all is what dwells in the hearts of individual perpetrators.
We need, from an early age, to be teaching the young about the futility of violence as a problem-solving option.
We need also to inculcate the need to value the sanctity of life and the preservation of property – especially when linked to education and worship.
Those who practice, teach and encourage the opposite should look deep within themselves and at the outcome of their actions to realise that the end in this case does not justify the means.
