Patrick O'Shea: Violence shouldn't be our language

It only takes an attempted presidential candidate assassination about an hour away to make one realize violence is increasingly becoming our language.

Just to see all the blood on the bleachers where I could have sat at one time or another while visiting the Butler Farm Show grounds, still doesn't seem real. How could something so horrific as what happened Saturday, July 13, at former president Donald Trump's latest political rally have occurred where dairy princesses and 4H youngsters trod every year?

While the eyes of the world are once again on western Pennsylvania for a violent incident, just like it was on Oct. 11, 2018, when 11 lives were lost in a hateful shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, and so many other times over the last several decades, I still believe most of us in the region, and, indeed, the nation are good people.

Most people do not settle their disputes with guns, knives or bombs. Most arguments do not end up with the terrible cost this incident had. And most of the time, community events go off without disaster.

But even with that, and the fact this type of incident hasn't happened in America in four decades since the attempt on President Reagan's life, Saturday's events didn't surprise me. I was shocked and saddened, but somehow it felt as if something like this was imminent.

I'm not a psychoanalyst who has insight into the minds of others and we still don't know what motivated Saturday's shooter, but the tension in the nation has been palpable for months. The rhetoric has gone far beyond disagreements to calls for blood and violence. And that violence has manifested itself far too often, with people beaten and spit on at events.

It has grown from the ugly online trolls posting hateful speech and personal attacks to actual threats on people's lives to reprehensible actions that have real consequences. And it is not just politics motivating the trend. Even in cities reporting their violent crimes are down, the incidents that do occur seem larger and more vicious. Barely a day goes by without another mass shooting somewhere.

The nation has gone through violent cycles before and came out of it, so I hope that is the case this time as well. However, now that we have the internet and social media to roil up hard feelings and anger and keep sustaining it, it will be a lot harder than just taking a breath as Trump and President Biden urged after Saturday's incident.

It's time for folks to look inward. Why are you so angry? Is that anger even justified? Because most times it isn't, especially when you are considering violence. There are better ways to deal with these dark urges, whether seeking professional help or just talking through it with someone. And we need to be better about interceding when we see people heading down a dark path.

But most of all people need to realize that however much they might disagree with someone or their choices, they share a heritage as human beings and deserve respect. Everyone has frustrations and concerns, but that doesn't mean those feelings need to be acted upon. Violence is never the answer, especially when the question is something like who should be president.

Patrick O'Shea is editor of The Beaver County Times, Ellwood City Ledger and Somerset Daily American. His goal is to promote talking over fighting and less violence in the community. He can be reached at poshea@timesonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Patrick O'Shea: Violence shouldn't be our language