Violence, Violence Everywhere

I’ve always been the type of person who’s a bit (okay, very) ignorant about current affairs. I admit that I am guilty of watching something (anything really) than the news and I don’t read newspapers despite being a bookworm. So all in all, I was pretty much ignorant about what goes on in and out of the country and I was content being blissfully unaware.

It was only recently that, for some reason I could not phantom, I’ve started to read the paper and I’m simply horrified at the violence that’s happening in the country. It comes in so many forms; from abduct-rape-murder combos, beating people up for insignificant reasons, etc.

Today I read a story on the front page of Metro about an 18 year old girl who experience bouts of hysteria because she didn’t fulfill her end of a deal with evil spirit(s). She was practicing black magic to make a man her ‘puppet’ and have him buy her branded things. This disturbs me on so many levels because it unites modern evil (materialism and thirst for branded goods) and ancient evil (black magic).

Nau’dzubillah.. Its one thing to use your beauty or charm to bag a sugar daddy who can grant every one of your materialistic wishes but this just puts it on a whole new level. The poor girl didn’t sell her body, she practically sold her soul. I’m trying so hard not to judge. I know just how easy it is to succumb to the call of the materialistic world we live in today. Being 18 and all, I guess she’s too young to put things in perspective. I really hope she gets well soon.

Then there’s a 44 year old man who was beaten by two men in their 30’s just because the former gave them a reprimanding stare for being noisy as they were working. The victim managed to escape after being beaten for half an hour and ran for cover into his home. Not being able to get to him, the two burned the victim’s motorcycle. I’m sure if the victim didn’t manage to escape, he may be dead by now. Just for a reprimanding glare.. Can you imagine that?

Then again there are so-called ‘avenging angels’ who asked (read: used) primary students between the age of 10 to 12 from a SAR to take part in an illegal demonstration against the month-long Fun Fair that was going to visit (or is it already visiting?) the neighboring village.

C’mon la people, got brain or not? If you don’t agree with the Fun Fair thingy for whatever reason, then write a letter or make a petition to the Board that’s responsible for the approval of said Fun Fair. Why do an illegal demonstration involving kids? Is that what you want to teach your kids to do each time they want something?
 
I keep asking myself why is this happening and where is all this violence coming from? Is it because we have disconnected spiritually from God that we don’t know which is Jihad and which is just plain extreme?

Is it because we are placing way too much importance on material things until we no longer care who we hurt, even if it’s ourselves, to acquire it ? Is it because we are so used to everything being instant and convenient that we don’t know how to be patient anymore? Or is it a simple case of too much violence on tv, video games and the Internet?

Whenever I see a baby or a small child I wonder how is he or she going to survive in the world we’re living in. During my time as a teen all we had to worry about were surviving peer pressure, bullying and the embarrassment of being the first or the last one to hit puberty and everything that comes with it (Remember the zits?).

Now on top of all that, today’s teens have to face and handle widely (and I mean widely) available porn (hence the increasing pressure to have sex resulting in unwanted pregnancy and baby dumping), online bullying and blackmail and the ever increasing violence of all shapes and sizes in the cyber world and the real world. Oh, and did I mention that the environment is terribly polluted and resources are getting more and more limited by the day?

Oh God, I think I just made myself depressed.