The Cause of Violence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Cause of Violence - Essay Example Their reasoning has been influenced to the extent that they will carry out the unthinkable. Extensive researches and surveys may not always be consistent, but a basic factor contributing to violence has been evident for a long time - family issues. Simply being an eyewitness to family violence has a great effect upon a youngster. Derek and Danny Vinyard (American History X) witnessed the murder of their father by a black man. Nevertheless, although they may not have realized, they were being conditioned to believe that 'what happened to their father was an act of racism by the black man'. Moreover, Derek had already been influenced by his father's cynical views on African American culture. When they became grown-up, Derek and Danny lead a life of a "vengeance-seeking white supremacist" (Synopsis for American History X, www.imdb.com). Parents' own behavior has an enormous consequence on a young child's mind. Hally's (Master Harold and the Boys) father is a drunkard and a tyrant. He grew up having resentment for his father. On one incident, Hally unleashed "years of anger and pain on his two black friends; creating possibly-permanent rifts in his relationship with them" (Master Harold and the Boys, www.en.wikipedia.org). Careful students of the appalling increase of violence in our dangerous times list many contributing factors: the media emphasis on violent events, crime and corruption; the way world leaders shamelessly resort to violence to stay in power; the sense of utter frustration with injustices that never seem to be resolved, leading some to feel that bullets will accomplish what ballots cannot; the callous way inwhich millions of the unborn are violently wrenched from existence by abortion; the way religious leaders uphold "just" wars and yet do not uphold moral principles in the face of lowering standards. The world soon gets desensitized, inured to violence. And there are other reasons. The permissiveness of supposed progressive thinking in our time has altered customs and moral standards, removing the restraints that once served to check attitudes and actions that can lead to violence. The sad effect is seen especially in the young. It is not an exaggeration, therefore, to say that what a person reads or sees has an effect on his attitudes. Sexual abuses and perversions also breed violence by destroying all sense of decency. No matter what is the cause of violence is, the question remains: Does this mean that mankind is doomed to an endless cycle of vicious and escalating violence Happily, our knowing that what now exists is a temporary situation, soon to end, and that there is a way out, can give us strength to endure. Many of Jehovah's Witnesses testify to this. You, too, can 'escape all these things that are destined to occur.' About these same woes for this time of the end, Jesus said: "As these things start to occur, raise yourselves erect and lift your heads up, because your deliverance is getting near." So, take courage! Jesus will shortly deliver mankind from all oppression and violence.-Luke 21:28,36; Psalm 72:1, 2, 12,14. Works Cited Page Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. "Why So Many Violent Crimes Now" Awake! 08 July 2003: 5 - 9. The Internet Movie Database. 28 May 2008. IMDb.com, Inc. 28 October 2008 [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120586/synopsis]. Wikipedia the Free