Causes of Violence

Where there is no emotion,
there is no motive for violence.
- the character Spock in the Star Trek television series

Is the above quote true? What are the real causes of violence?

At first hearing, the Spock quote seems to ring true. A look at the front page of any newspaper would tend to confirm that the world's violent conflicts are caused by emotions run amok: White/Black hatred, Christian/Muslim hatred, Sunni/Shia hatred. A look at individual violence also shows most to have a cause based in emotions: people kill others they are angry with far more often than they commit strong-arm robbery simply out of greed.

On the other hand, non-emotional violence for the purpose of theft has also been around as long as humankind. Think of the Mongols conquering most of Asia  - highly violent, but not emotionally based. Or think of the conquests of Alexander the Great. While it shows up less often in modern life, theft/greed is also a major cause of both personal and institutional violence.


Other perspectives on violence:

The cause of violence ... is self-interest.
- William Sloane Coffin, Jr.

War does not determine who is right -
only who is left.
- Bertrand Russell

If America Became a Christian Nation

A new command I give you: Love one another.
As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
- Jesus of Nazareth (John 13:34)

If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need
but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
- 1 John 3:17

Guide our feet into the way of peace.
- Luke 1:79

Depart from Me, you cursed... for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.
- Matthew 25:41-43

It is common for those that are farthest from God,
to boast themselves most of their being near to the Church.
- Matthew Henry

I highly recommend that you go to to time.com/3856484/america-christian-nation/ to read Time magazine's article: If America Became a Christian Nation.

The essence of the article is...

1. To be truly Christian is to follow the teachings of Jesus, and to live the principles He lived.

2. A number of the principles held most dear by some who stridently claim Christianity are actually diametrically opposed to Jesus' principles. These include war; a gun culture; choosing to deny food, health care, and love to the sick and poor among us; and excluding migrants.

War

War is only a cowardly escape from the problems of peace.
- Thomas Mann

If we don't end war, war will end us.
- H. G. Wells

The first casualty when war comes is truth.
- Hiram Johnson

An unjust peace is better than a just war.
- Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)

The belief in the possibility of a short decisive war
appears to be one of the most ancient and dangerous of human illusions.
- Robert Wilson Lynd (1879 - 1949)

War settles nothing.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower

All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers.
- Francois Fenelon

The end move in politics is always to pick up a gun.
- R. Buckminster Fuller

There is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare.
- Sun Tzu (544BC - 496 BC)

We will not learn how to live together in peace
by killing each other's children.
- Jimmy Carter

Patriots always talk of dying for their country and
never of killing for their country.
- Bertrand Russell

In peace, sons bury their fathers.
In war, fathers bury their sons.
- Herodotus

Thou shalt not kill.
- Exodus 20:13
 

Helen Thomas

Helen Thomas (August 4, 1920 – July 20, 2013) was a White House press reporter from 1961 to 2010 (when she retired at age 90) - covering every President from Kennedy to Obama.

It's time for women to make their voices heard.
Their silence on the subject of war and peace is deafening.
- Helen Thomas 

If we care about the children, the grandchildren,
the future generations, we need to make sure that they
do not become the cannon fodder of the future.
- Helen Thomas

When will our leaders learn - war is not the answer.
- Helen Thomas

You don't spread democracy through the barrel of a gun.
- Helen Thomas

We won't really know what will happen until it happens.
- Helen Thomas

I think I'll work all my life.
When you're having fun, why stop having fun?
- Helen Thomas

December seventh, 1941, a date which will live in infamy...

December seventh, 1941, a date which will live in infamy...
- Franklin D. Roosevelt (32nd President of the United States)