Why do we tolerate this...

I cannot believe the kinds of violence we are seeing in the world today. I was reading through news headlines this afternoon when one jumped out at me: Man Beaten to Death While Trying to Protect His Son.

In this story, a 7-year old boy playing soccer (English football) in England accidentally kicked his ball into a neighbor's yard. When the neighbor refused to return the ball and began picking on the child, the father intervened in an attempt to protect the little boy. What ensued was not only horrific, but intolerable.

A group of people at the neighbor's house ganged up on and attacked this man with a samurai sword, a cricket bat, and golf clubs. They stabbed him, knocked him down, and then proceeded to continually smash his head with the cricket bat and golf clubs - all while his 7-year old son watched in horror.

The man's wife tried to come to his rescue but was knocked down and held back from helping her husband.

In the end, the man died, and a 14-year old girl and a 60-year old grandmother are among those who were arrested in the assault. The police are attempting to identify the other members who participated in the violent attack.

The question I have is this: Why do we tolerate such behavior in our societies? This isn't just senseless violence, this is rage and evil coming from the neighbor next door. Unfortunately, the people involved will likely receive relatively minor sentences for this ridiculous crime while this 7-year old boy, his widowed mother, and his 12-year old sister (who did not witness the attack) will all be forced to live for the rest of their lives without a father, husband, and provider for the family. The lives of at least 3 people have been literally destroyed because of this attack, and it's simply unacceptable to tolerate this sort of behavior by issuing slaps on the wrist to the attackers. (20 years in prison would be "slap on the wrist" when considering the violent nature of and tragic results of this crime affecting generations of this man's family.)

I don't know what has happened to our societies today where violence, perversion, and other forms of evil behavior are not only tolerated, but are glamorized and publicized in our media and in our entertainment.

When will we realize that our weakened moral standards for what our children see on television and in movies is having a very tangible and measurable effect on our societies? When will we realize that the rise in perversions and molestations is directly related to the proliferation of pornographic materials in our homes? When will we realize that we tolerate these kinds of crimes by tolerating the propaganda and material that leads to this sort of behavior?

We're always sad to see something like this occur, but we do nothing to stop it from happening again. Instead, we "innocently" turn on CSI and go watch "There will be blood" at the movies and somehow fail to realize that we are supporting and embracing the very things that are driving our society towards violence and immorality.

You may wonder why these people committed a crime like this. I wonder why we tolerate it by spending our time and resources supporting the garbage that promotes and glamorizes this behavior.

Something has to change...