The K-Word

"I'm going to kill you." Have you ever uttered that phrase? Someone was doing something that you didn't like, something that might've had unpleasant consequences to yourself, and you blurted out, "I'm going to kill you." Most likely, you didn't mean it. You quickly made up with whomever perpetrated the minor offense and the phrase was forgotten. But in certain circumstances, you watch your language. We all know the words we shouldn't use in polite society, though many of us now do so anyway these days. Even when referencing them as words and not expletives we are wary to enunciate them. The f-word. The c-word. The n-word. To some religious, there might be the G-word. Or the J-word. Don't take that dude's name in vain. But where is the k-word?

There are and will continue to be people speaking out against the tragedy in Tucson. And rightly so. They are and will say that the discourse in our society is vitriolic, that we need to tone it down, because the shooter might've been impressed by such rhetoric. Maybe he was. After every tragedy, the media certainly likes that narrative. And while some of that may be true, it goes much deeper than that.

We live in a society of casual violence. In network TV, cop dramas depict violence on a weekly basis. PG-13 movies have some violence, as long as it doesn't cross a given arbitrary line into R-rated territory. But God (oops, I just broke a commandment, sorry) forbid if someone drops the f-bomb.

And then there's...(I take a deep breath as I approach the third rail) War. Yes, War: we make heroes out of people who kill other people for a living because some politician or group told them the enemy are "the bad guys." We demonize "the bad guys" like they are some oppressive evil from hell. For some of our warriors, that may work. But for others, they get shell-shocked into PTSD. Yes, that Iraqi or Afghani our soldier just killed was human; he or she was loved.

So yes, our public discourse should be more civil. Right-Wing Tea-Partiers and Left-Wing Radicals--and the media personalities who support them--should not wish violence toward the other side. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. We should start by never using the k-word and end by being kind to ALL our fellow human beings.