From Tragedy to Healing: Dealing with Mass Shootings
Join a National Conversation Tonight, August 7th
Join a National Conversation Tonight, August 7th
"Be a person who supports evidence-based social policy, education, and health care systems that address the underlying issues that can lead to such tragedies. Promote tolerance, respect, and compassionate solutions. Take a genuine interest in those around you. Be a part of the village that it takes to raise every child."
- Deborah L. Davis, Ph.D.
- Deborah L. Davis, Ph.D.
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Dear Supporter,
Just two weeks after the unbearable tragedy in Colorado, we learn of another mass shooting at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin. Our hearts go out to all the victims, their families and the communities.
The frequency of these horrific incidents is increasingly alarming. It is clear that something is seriously awry in our culture.
Please join us tonight for a national conversation about these tragedies, via tele-conference. The call will be a space to share how we are feeling, look at some of the conditions that might be behind these shootings and discuss what we can do.
On our call and in our ongoing debate at large, we must explore what is causing these incidents. Some of the potentially contributing conditions already getting some attention are: inadequate gun control laws; continual cuts in spending on mental illness support; the dangers of hate groups; violent movies and video games; etc.
We must also delve more deeply into questions about some of the causal conditions that may more deeply underlie the issue, like: the climate of fear and divisiveness that is so present in many of our debates, from political to personal; decreased social capital; a growing sense of social isolation; increasingly disconnected communities; and others.
We want to hear from you tonight. How are these tragedies impacting you personally? What do you think may be causing these kinds of
shootings? What do we need to be doing to address them? How are these shootings related to other forms of violence in our nation and world? Are we collectively becoming too desensitized to this kind of violence? What would you like to see The Peace Alliance do to help?
We will be joined by Peace Alliance Advisory Board member James O'Dea who will share and help facilitate the conversation. James is one of the world's leading voices in the emerging new peace movement. He is the author of the powerful new book, “Cultivating Peace: Becoming a 21st Century Peace Ambassador.” He is also the past President and Fellow at Institute of Noetic Sciences; former Washington D.C. Office Director at Amnesty International; former E.D. at SEVA Foundation; former White House Consultant and U.S. Representative to the U.N. and is an international teacher and lecturer. shootings? What do we need to be doing to address them? How are these shootings related to other forms of violence in our nation and world? Are we collectively becoming too desensitized to this kind of violence? What would you like to see The Peace Alliance do to help?More on the Issue:
Why the Gun Control Debate Doesn't Do Justice to Colorado Killings by Michael Shank - see a video with Michael as well
Gun Deaths: A Familiar American Experience via Yahoo News: "Among the world's 23 wealthiest countries, 80 percent of all gun deaths are American deaths and 87 percent of all kids killed by guns are American kids."
Coping with the Tragic News of the Colorado Theater Massacre: How to walk that fine line between being informed and being overwhelmed. by Deborah L. Davis, Ph.D.
As A Sikh-American I Refuse To Live In Fear And Negativity by Simran Jeet Singh
Book Excerpt from "Cultivating Peace" by James O'Dea
Part of the chapter: Ending the Transmission of Wounds
Part of the chapter: Ending the Transmission of Wounds
"Examine attitudes that subtly make others the root of your personal or our collective problems. Witness your own tacit collusion with beliefs that you know are not in integrity with who you are or who you are becoming. Remember that the wounds of the past often seek cover and hide out in respectable places, where they can slowly release their hurt and disaffection. Because a wound gets covered over does not mean it has healed.
Don’t be tempted to fortify yourself so that you are never vulnerable. Be open to the attempts of others to reach you in new ways. Healing your 
wounds from the inside out does not mean you have to heal them on your own. Sometimes you have to wait until you have the strength to fully open. Look for allies. Look for those who are good at helping you to confront fears they see slipping out in some of your opinions or tendencies. Seek ways to do the same for others.
wounds from the inside out does not mean you have to heal them on your own. Sometimes you have to wait until you have the strength to fully open. Look for allies. Look for those who are good at helping you to confront fears they see slipping out in some of your opinions or tendencies. Seek ways to do the same for others.Remind yourself that it is rarely the linear truth of who said what or did what to whom that is most important. Rather, it is how those experiences formed emotional and psychological states that is important. Facts can be a prelude to unraveling perpetration, but we all have unique ways of holding and storing hurt. It is the pain itself that must be released, even as we seek restorative justice. And don’t rush yourself or others into quick healing. As cultural anthropologist and educator Angeles Arrien reminds us, “Healing does not occur in the fast lane.”
Develop sophisticated antennae that help you pick up the nature of others’ wounding: combine empathy and intuition. Learn to decipher the tones and subtle signals of humiliation, shame, self-loathing, traumatic abuse, rage, numbness, and alienation. Don’t psychologize others but rather offer them, when appropriate, something more valuable: your friendship. You are not the healer, but you might be a part of the healing. Think of healing as restoring and enhancing a sense of wholeness; it has nothing to do with fixing.
Look for ways to always value people over things, and find ways to celebrate that have nothing to do with consuming things. Connect with the community of life and let nature be a part of your healing. This is not a solitary journey, even when you walk alone. Most importantly, despite the fact that cynicism underpins so much of public life, learn to voice your faith effectively. Shed beliefs that no longer serve the truth of who you really are, but never shed your faith in humanity and the indomitable nature of the spirit to reveal the essence of our quest for peace."
Order the book here...
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