Culture of Murder

By Tyrone “Kshanti” Mobley

 

I have chosen to write about the culture of murder because it is one of the most difficult and painful topics for me to write about.  I’ve had some inclinations to avoid it, but it kept on coming up in my mind; to suppress it deep within the depths of my sub-consciousness, but my consciousness is not so deluded as to try to hide such an important aspect of life from my mind.

Thus, having committed a murder and retaining an awareness of consciousness, there is no way I can get around the issue of murder.  So I have adopted the belief and hope that it may be helpful for me to come to an understanding about why I involved myself in such a selfish and deluded act.

As I see it, we are engrossed in a culture of murder.  Most of us view it as a form of entertainment that we seem to thrive on almost daily.  We hungrily watch television movies and shows or go to the theaters to watch an exaggeration of life unfold on the screen, in a mass of terror, horror and death.

We are thrilled with violence and captivated by the various creative ways other people kill each other.  Finally, we are distortedly curious about how to cause pain and suffering in others; and we seem to delight in the effects of sorrow, misery and pain.  But above all, we are especially captivated by the so-called finality of death.

On a more individual and personal level, each one of us is very much afraid of dying; or more precisely, of being murdered.  And yet even beyond the satisfaction of entertainment, we seem to have reasons for cultivating an interest and delight in murder.

My opinion is that we like to watch scenes of violence and death because somehow they represent to us an ideal exercise of personal power.  Temporarily at least, our minds are infused with this sense of power, even if it is only in our imaginations.  We tend to project ourselves into the movie or television screen, and in our excitement we induce in ourselves the qualities of mind and feelings we most want to emulate.

We derive a morbid sense of pleasure from briefly living a fantasy through our projections.  But when the movie, or novel, or fantasy has ended, most of us usually resume a relatively normal state of living.  Otherwise, there are certain types of individuals who tend to emulate violent and murderous tendencies quite literally.  Such people actually go out of the way to develop and cultivate negative qualities and behavioral traits, gradually incorporating them into their daily lives.

But there are also some individuals who simply want to commit murder.  Such a person could be full of anger and hatred, jealousy and greed, or perhaps is influenced by some kind of delusion.  Take for instance the youth in our suburban and urban communities.

They are daily bombarded with images of violence and murder.  Eventually some of them adopt violent forms of behavior as a means of entertainment, or as a method of manipulating and maintaining some degree of social status and popularity.  The latent violence of our young is expressed through their art, music, and dance; in their literature, and ultimately through the cultural lifestyles they choose to emulate.  Consequently, some finally become murderers.

As mentioned earlier, I’ve had the unfortunate experience of having committed murder.  But besides being curious about my own negative capabilities, my act was derived from many years of suppressed anger, hatred and confusion.  Having grown up in a culture of violence and madness, my hopes for a better way to live were not strong enough to hold on to.

My wrong living had caused myself and others much stress and suffering.  However, I am solely responsible and held accountable for my crime.  As I see it, the culture of murder is wrong.  There is no pleasure in taking another person’s life.  This is my truth.