America loves to watch violence. While the behavioral scientists debate the cause of violent acts in America and some propose the genesis of violence is from what we see, we can safely say that America loves to watch violence.
We pay to see it every day. We pay to sit in dark rooms and eat popcorn while watching violent movies and call it entertainment; we purchase videos of violence and call them games, these we take home and let our children see and participate in; we order violent movies online or rent them and bring them into our homes, this, too, we call entertainment; we pay to see two people locked in a cage beat one another until blood flows and call it sport.
America loves violence and as long as America pays to watch it, the producers will make it available. If performances of violence were closed, it would take generations for the American ethos to change. Violence is ingrained in our culture, it is accepted, and some politicians promote it because it is good for our economy.
We argue it is our freedom to see what we want. We are a violence-loving people. We cannot stop it in our generation, the next or even the next. Three generations will sit in a room and watch violent movies, TV shows, and play video games and call it family time. It will take generations for that to change. But when will we begin the process?
Rev. Joseph W. Shook
Colonie