What can I do now?

Last night on “The President and the People” Townhall meeting, the discussion centered on recent violence in the US and improving police/community relations. Toya Graham, who became known as #motheroftheyear last year for pulling her son out of the Baltimore protest, got to speak with the president and ask him a question. She asked “What can I do?” I was so proud of her!

If I was the president I might have asked, “What would you like to say to your neighbors?”
I suspect she would have responded, “Follow my example.”

The president and all of our elected officials are doing what they can. But why should we wait for them? What can we do right now to stop violence in the world? Check on your kids. If they have guns, take them away. If they are misbehaving, remind them how to behave. And show your kids that you love them. Even if you can’t do anything else, tell them “I love you.” Every day.

Get to know your neighbors; at least be polite to them. Offer to help in some way. You never know how much a kind word can deter violence.Maybe this is the best start for true gun control and mental health. Without these things laws and more police probably won’t help.

In addition, we must all be extremely careful about what we post on social media. Misunderstandings and outright falsehoods are often quoted and reposted as truth. Have you gotten emotional about something later found out to be untrue? These false posts and spam emails that are designed to get people overly emotional about something and repost/forward the story may be more harmful to society than we realize. And we can stop it right now without legislation.
Check your sources.

If you read about a new law that seems completely ridiculous, or heathenish horrors happening overseas; do not repost it. How can you be sure someone didn’t just make up the story to get you to click on his story to make money? Posts that denigrate a religion or culture not your own may help you feel superior, until you find out that post was a lie. Don’t act on lies. That literally causes unnecessary violence in thoughts, words, and actions.

Rather than commenting on supposed facts that could turn out to be falsehoods, comment on principles, ideas, ideals you hold to be true. Don’t repost inflammatory articles. Make your own comments on what ideas you think to be truthful and good.
If you hear someone hit so and so, but you really don’t know if it’s true, you may still comment on what you think about hitting.