Todays shameful headline about a high school student who apparently went on a monstrous attack and stabbed 20 other students at a Pennsylvania high school reminds me of something the Dalai Lama said in response to a question at a conference I attended at UCLA a few years ago. The topic of gun control provides a polarizing debate in this country. CNN Commentator Piers Morgan, a very outspoken supporter of gun control, may have actually been driven off the air because of his stand against guns. At the conference with the Dalai Lama, an attendee asked his opinion of the proliferation of private gun ownership in America and gun control laws. The Dalai Lama said he had no opinion of private gun ownership or gun control laws. He said what should concern us more is why people are so inclined to act with violence, and why violence seemed to be an acceptable form of communication. He said it has little to do with the weapon. If a person is inclined to violence, they will use a gun. If they have no gun, they will use a knife. If they have no knife, they will use another weapon. If they have no weapon, they will use a rock. Our biggest challenge, he felt, is determining why people think it is acceptable to communicate in a violent manner - why is violence so common and why does our modern culture tolerate such fatalistic interaction. The teenage student who attacked 20 others this morning did not have a gun. He used a knife.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Apr 2014 14:20:09 +0000
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