When I walk through the neighborhood and see those signs on front lawns that state "nonviolence begins with me," I often ask myself, how can this be true? How can one person make a difference in this violent world we live in?

Those signs remind me of the violent and untimely death of Sr. Karen Klimczak, and I ask myself, how can I contribute to this unfinished business of nonviolence? As a person involved in local politics, I have noticed over the years a gradual decay in decency.

Campaigns have become more negative and bashing candidates is fair game. One only has to watch the late night television to witness a continual barrage of character bashing. Even our local TV stations have jumped into the free-for-all fracas of character assassination. Almost anything goes nowadays, especially with reality TV and media on all levels wanting to shock our senses with as much personal damaging dirt as they can dreg up.

The other day I caught myself getting into a tirade about Mel Gibson's arrest and the accusations that his comments were full of rage and anti-Semitism. My comments to my wife regarding the actor's actions were not very kind. I was amazed at how quickly I turned negative towards a man I really knew very little about. And yet, I know that the principle of nonviolence does not mean you have to condone and accept everything that goes on in your world.

But I think it means that you should at least suspend judgment and get the whole story before you act. I have read that before you speak, you should consider these three things: Is it kind? Is it necessary? Is it true? In our society, it seems that we have become so polarized in our opinions that we have difficulty in coming up with solutions that address the concerns of the entire community, not to mention, the entire world.

Being deliberate and compassionate in our words is a crucial step in communicating with – and understanding – others. Nonviolence does begin with each of us, but more specifically it begins with what we say and even what we don't say. As Mother Theresa said, "nonviolence begins with a smile."

Back to District 8 Homepage