Violence only begets more violence
When horrific things like the attacks on Brussels and Paris take place it is natural for us to feel horror, anger, sadness and fear. Every life is precious but ISIS has killed thousands upon thousands, wounded many more and caused millions to be displaced, including fellow Muslims!
The Muslims in the Middle East are suffering in unprecedented numbers compared to non-Muslims. Also contrast this to gun violence in the United States; 196,000 people in the U.S. have died from gunshots from 2009 to 2014. That averages 39,000 killed by guns each of those years in this country. That's just 10,000 more than live in Atascadero. We need to take ISIS seriously and our own gun violence very seriously. None of these violent problems is going to be ultimately solved by more guns, drones or boots on the ground or more deaths. There is no final violent solution to violence.
Maggie Fertschneider, Atascadero
This story was originally published April 5, 2016 at 8:49 PM with the headline "Violence only begets more violence."