Time to say, 'No more'

I've been thinking about the Don Imus firing and how my only comment would be, "Well, let's see if NBC and all its affiliated stations and networks will be straight up enough to pull music with the kind of lyrics Imus used, and pull programming with that kind of message."

My guess: probably not. As long as there's profit to be made pandering to the lowest common denominator, the hucksters will seek the money and justify themselves by saying what other people do is not their fault. And there's a bit of truth to that.

Imus' use of insulting and demeaning words to those young women is just a small part of the picture, though. The shooting at Va. Tech today puts it all into context.

We can't wait for the hucksters and panderers to quit selling their crap. We, as concerned parents, children, brothers and sisters, and members of this society, have to stand up and say "No more."

No more to this culture of violence.

No more to music that calls women hos and makes violence against them look like a normal part of life. No more of ultra-violent video games in which players spray characters with gunfire, leaving them in pools of blood. No more glorification of violence.

No more culture of violence.

It's not funny. It's not cool for young women to call each other "bitches" and "hos" because they're trying to be hipper than hip.

Kids don't need to be fed lies that life is only about getting just what they want, regardless of the cost to others. They don't need to be fed lies that dissing other people is what makes them powerful, while other people dissing them in any perceived way is punishable by violence - or death.

No more culture of violence.

We have our president as cultural icon. How does he handle problems? Go kick some Arab butt. So what if a few hundred-thousand civilians die?

No more, no more.

I went to school in Virginia, not at Va. Tech, but at another college in the state's rolling hills. It's not the kind of place where you expect anything like that to happen. No place is, I guess, but it keeps happening in all these small towns and places where you just don't expect mass murder to happen. It shouldn't happen anywhere.

No more, no more. If we don't stand up and say no more, then we deserve it. We're letting it happen.


Addendum Tuesday, April 17

Dear Lord, please hold those who perished yesterday close to your heart, secure in their new life eternal. Also hold close the families and loved ones, for they are coming through shock into grief now, and need your consolation, and need to hold onto your promises. Surround them with the right people to comfort them and help them through this time of grief. Pour out your blessings on them. We ask this in the name of your compassionate son, Jesus Christ. Amen.