Why mothers grieve around the world

To the editor:

“And they shall bend their swords into plowshares and study war no more.” These words are an appeal for nonviolence. Thus, we might read these words in the Bible and on the wall outside the United Nations.

Yet, even today, mothers are grieving all over the world because of the violence that consumes the headlines worldwide. And we grieve with them.

Lest we forget, our leaders who have spoke out against violence, discrimination and hate crimes were assassinated: Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Medgar Evers and Martin Luther King Jr. 

And, lest we forget, our courageous and vibrant young leaders were also assassinated: James Earl Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner.

Today, mothers are grieving from New York to Tucson, Arizona, because of the wanton destruction created by youth on missions of hate and bigotry: white-on-white crimes and black-on-black crimes. Racial, ethnic, gender bias, religious intolerance and bullying continues.

Mothers grieve around the world in war zones of Afghanistan, Palestine, Uganda and Jerusalem, as their children become the casualties of war in areas afflicted by war-related crimes. And mothers also become targets as violence against women continues domestically, nationally and internationally. And a new world of slavery in human sex trafficking of women and children who are traded illegally around the world.

This propensity for violence continues. It continues whether by air, by land or by sea. Violence even continues en utero as infanticide becomes medically acceptable, and partial-birth abortions become a form of birth control in the 21st century.

Today, mothers grieve around the world. We grieve with them as we speak up and speak out against crimes against humanity.

Phyllis C. Murray