The Road To Recovery

While the question of harm from a diet of violence used to be a matter of debate, there are now few who will seriously doubt that we are paying a heavy social price for the changes.

We know very well that those exposed to a diet of violent media tend to become less and less sensitised to its awfulness, and we know that some people are more vulnerable to these effects than others.

We also know very well that those who with this diet become increasingly willing to act violently against other people.

The inhibitions against violence which have traditionally enabled us to live safely with one another have become eroded.

Putting that together we can say that we have a new group of people living around us who have become insensitive to the portrayal of violence, as well as some who have become so disinhibited to its negative effects that they are willing to perpetrate atrocities against innocent victims.

Society as a whole becomes the poorer. In other words, we have seen the emergence of an Acquired Insensitivity and Disinhibition Syndrome (AIDS).

As with the physical syndrome, we know where it comes from, and we know how to control it. The question is whether as a society we have the will to do so.

If I told you I had AIDS, would you embrace me? Would you share your life with me?
There are common attitudes towards AIDS. The most common and unhelpful response is Fear. Fear produces fear. Fear paralyses and fear can blind us to clear truth. Why are people so fearful of AIDS?

It's simple, if you get AIDS, you die!

AIDS is a disease, like any other human disease, and the people who are suffering from it need the same compassion as the people suffering from any other disease. With everyday contact you are no more likely to get AIDS than you are likely to get cancer from someone dying of cancer, provided you do not enter into a high risk activity.

If a loved one came down with AIDS, I hope that you would discover an eternal truth - "Perfect love casts out all fear." Love is being other-centred. When we start to consider the devastation the AIDS patient has to face we are given a new perspective.

They are burdened by the fact that:

• They are likely to contract a serious illness from which they will not recover.
• The reality of rejection and alienation from others.
• The prospect of telling family and friends
• The admission that they are homosexual or an intravenous drug user.
• They carry their own anger and grief about the prospect of immediate change and eventual death.

The list could go on, but for our purposes empathising with the other's need should serve to encourage us to be part of the solution not part of the problem.

A second unproductive attitude is preju dice. Some people are powerfully vocal in announcing their insensitivity. They may say, " People with AIDS deserve to die for their disgusting homosexual lifestyle. "

They look at the victim's predicament as judgment, some thing they deserve. Whilst there may be an ounce of truth in what they say, there is also a ton of prejudice. Prejudice becomes a barrier to any meaningful communication.

If the truth were known we all should be judged for some past misdemeanour , yet we single out this or that, as being unforgivable.

Do we have that right ?

In answer to the final barrier, that of misinformation, I hope this series of articles has stirred an appetite within to explore and challenge unjustified attitudes by increasing your understanding.