Dark nights rising in our backyard…

27 July 2012

Last week I was pitching my two cents worth into the ‘rights to water’ debate with the hope that a clear and crystal outcome would quench our thirst and give us a satisfactory outcome to a sticky issue. But this week that water has turned red with two incidents, one, miles away and yet close enough to send a shiver down my back; and the other is at our back door and raised the hairs on my neck ever since.

I am referring, of course, firstly to the shooting during the screening of the latest Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises, in Aurora, Colorado, United States of America, and secondly to the shocking revelation, here in New Zealand, contained in the latest coroner’s report regarding the death of the Kahui twins back in 2006.

These two cases once again remind us of just how volatile our society can be at any given moment, like a cold snap that catches us unaware causing catastrophic pain and sorrow, and even death, in our communities.

There is no doubt that there are many dark nights rising within the various societies in America, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle-East, and even here in the good old land of the Long White Cloud. What is happening in the United States of America and other countries of the world was once considered too far away to affect us; but today the world is getting smaller and smaller, and such nights of terror which killed twelve and injured fifty-eight people in Aurora, is happening in our very own backyard.

Those, like me, with ‘ears on the wall syndrome’ have already been inundated with psychological profiles and resonance behind these two events, as Pacific Island amateur psychologists in our communities debate the moral and ethical strands of these dark sides of our global family.

The Aurora shooting has prompted many in our communities to resurrect the memories of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting, some forty-five kilometres from Aurora within the same state of Colorado. In that act of terror, violent video games were offered by some members of our communities as a contributing factor; and it is not surprising that our communities have now touted the violence associate with the latest Batman movie as a driving force behind the actions of the alleged killer, James Holmes.

While these allegation may seem farfetched, or at least insignificant, among the findings of the so-called professional psychologists, the fact remains that the increase in violence within video games and movies, seems to go hand-in-hand with the rise in violent crimes within our societies.

I remember the old days in New Zealand when the baton was the only thing that could be classed as a weapon in a Police Officer’s arsenal; it makes a mockery of what today’s societies call ‘lethal weapons’. Today, the good guys armed themselves with taser stun guns, and carry firearms to subdue the bad and the ugly in our society who are in turn arming themselves with firearms and other heavy artilleries, and citing ‘protection’ as the primary motive for taking such drastic actions.

For me violence breeds violence, and the only way to limit violence in our society is to limit its availability or the source of its availability. But I think it may be too late for such actions to combat violence in our society. Why? Because violence today is no longer just an aspect of the societies we live in; it has become part and parcel of it. It is everywhere. It is on television, video games, movies, sports, schools, our homes and families, churches, public places, work places, gangs, and so forth. But what is even more alarming, is the fact that violence in our societies has become much more than an aspect or characteristic of video games or movies.

I believe violence itself is now a game and a sport for some, for others it defines who they are, their families and their culture. Violence has become a weapon in the hands of the desperate as well as the eccentric to solve poverty, low self esteem, abusive relationships and environments, unemployment, lack of opportunities, broken families, and, for many, violence is ‘god’ itself that fills the spiritual vacuum that has been created over the many years of exposure to violence itself.

And with the constant turnaround of gadgets within the technological realm, getting rid of, or even limiting, violence, would be a big ask, especially when technology seeks to improve and to make the unreal indistinguishable from reality. While at the same time digitally reinvent and refine violence to satisfy the hunger for the gory and the darker sides of our societies’ mind set.

It is even harder when every technology available to us today is loaded with programmes that entices the users to participate in all that it offers. No longer do you have to bring your friends to your house to play a game. People are now playing online so a person in New Zealand can play people living in Brazil or China; it’s phenomenal, but also deadly especially when those involve are complete strangers which can also lead to other complications and criminal intentions.

Technology is good and useful but it is not a ‘god’; it does not control us, we control it, and control the way our children and young people use it. Technology creates unnecessary needs and hunger for more hardware and software, and with many families on low income and others on welfare benefits, violent crimes is very much on the books for the technology junkies to feed their technology habit.

My advice to parents is – change our mindset and go back to basics. Be parents to our children, and not allow gadgets and technology to be the parents to our children. There is a need to recapture the personal dimension in relationships, so that reality can be clearly distinguished from fantasy and the world of make belief, as displayed in the recent Aurora theatre shooting in Colorado.

When we neglect our responsibilities as parents, then we fail our children. Just as our societies failed the Kahui twins, Chris and Cru Kahui. The findings by the Coroner Gary Evans clearly implies that the twins’ father, Chris Kahui, was responsible for their deaths, but had escaped conviction by lying under oath. I need not say any more about this case as it has been well documented, but it reminds us of just how precious our children are, and how important we keep them safe and provide opportunities to seek a better life without violence.

And to those who are responsible for the untimely death of Chris and Cru Kahui, I remind you of what Jesus said about those who champion violence: All who live by the sword, will die by the sword. The guilty has been set free of murder, but the murderer has not been set free of guilt.

Finally, the pressure that societies put on people is enormous today, and at any given moment, it could explode without warning. We need to be aware that Pacific Island people, especially our youths, are vulnerable and may crack under the pressure that societies here in New Zealand put on them, as the dark nights continue to rise during these hard and trying economic time.

I encourage our Pacific Island people once again to seek a better environment to bring up your family and raise your children. There is a great need for Pacific Island parents to step up and take responsibilities for the environment their children grow up in; it needs to be holistic, catering for the body, mind, and spirit.

Many of our Pacific people tend to pursue only one or two of the aspects of holisticity; the spiritual dimension is usually the one that is neglected. I was even shocked to hear on the radio last week that some of our own Pacific people are calling for religious teachings to be banned from schools.

I think this is a timely reminder to all Pacific Island people that America pursued exactly this stupid idea within its schools many years ago, and America is still paying a heavy price for it today; the Dark Knight Rises shooting in Aurora recently is just another fruit of that senseless and obtuse decision, and it should be a lesson to those with such similar dark intentions in our Pacific Island communities to seek enlightenment.

And a final word of wisdom: Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all other things shall be added unto you…..

Soifua.