"Soldier, your eyes, they shine like the sun
I wonder why
Soldier, your eyes shine like the sun
I wonder why

"Jesus, I saw you walkin’ on the river
I don’t believe you
You can’t deliver right away
I wonder why

"Jesus, your eyes shine like the sun
I wonder why"
--Neil Young

I enjoy listening to Neil Young when the outside world seems unstable. Thus, I listen to a lot of his music.

I have an intellectual understanding of people who have violence in their hearts. And I can appreciate the right to self-defense. But it makes me feel ill to read some of the messages that a few of my casual friends, employed in the local media, are making on an internet forum known as "Facebook" today. They are interpreting the terrible bloodshed at the military base as part of a Crusade, and demanding "revenge."

The violence at the military base was a horrible thing. I feel terrible for the dead, the wounded, and their family and friends. The individual who committed the attack must be held fully responsible. And, if the investigation uncovers evidence of others being involved, then they, too, must be held responsible.

Yet the angry, unfocused, and paranoid calls for "retaliation" are both sick and unpatriotic. This nation has far too much fear and hatred, and far too much violence in its cities, streets, and homes. The embracing of any ideology – religious, political, economic, or otherwise – that advocates aggressive violence, a force that always devours the innocent, threatens the soul of our country.

When I was young, I was taught that the nation that is richest is the one that is inhabited by the highest percentage of happy, compassionate, and noble people, for the dignity of humanity is the greatest treasure in any land. I think of that when I see the fear and hatred destroying human beings in our country, and how that fear, hatred, and violence is defining our culture, and as such, becoming our largest export.

I wonder why.