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Thursday, May 23, 1996 Page:
America’s way to a safe society lies in self-esteem, motivation, education
A Luzerne County judge says, “No matter the troubles Miller encountered as
a boy. He, not the system, committed the rapes. Miller is terrible and evil
and is solely accountable”(“Whose fault is Bruce Miller?” April 21)What
this judge says and sincerely believes is the result of the illogic which
infects every part of our lives. It blinds us to the fact that there is a
cause and a reason for everything.
Every motivational program and speaker back to and including Jesus Christ,
contends that “we become what we think about.” Do we have to be rocket
scientists to understand that it is the influences in our lives which
determine what we think about?
Norman Vincent Peale became a tremendous influence with his fantastic book,
“The Power of Positive Thinking.” It taught that if we fill our minds with
good thoughts and beliefs then good must follow us; and if we do the opposite,
then bad will follow us everywhere.
God only knows how many lives Peale has changed with his incredible book.
But if many of those people who experienced those positive changes had never
come in contact with Peale’s words, they would not have had any idea that they
could take control and responsibility for their lives.
Maybe Peale’s words could have helped Miller. Could you take a pile of
rocks and make an airplane?
Neither can you fill the mind of a child with garbage and expect him to do
the right thing.
Dale Carnegie, whose books also has changed the lives of millions, said,
“If you or I were born with the same physical and mental characteristics as
anyone else, and life did to us exactly as it did to that person, then we
would do as that person. We couldn’t possibly do anything else.”
Isn’t that just common sense?
As unhealthy nutrition can predispose cancer, so can negative influences
put into the minds of our children predispose them to anti-social actions. We
then stupidly apply the toxic chemicals of chemotherapy and prison to get rid
of the end results of defective input.
If our objective is to put our entire nation into the prison business, then
we are doing a good job.
What makes us think that locking up Bruce Miller for a period of time will
make him a kinder, gentler person? Will a prison term eliminate the reason for
the existence of the kind of thinking that caused him to commit those terrible
acts? Would locking up an apple tree for a time cause it to grow pumpkins?
Certainly, he can’t be left out on the street — any more than we’d want
someone with typhoid fever mingling with us. Common sense dictates that we
provide the kind of input into the life of Bruce Miller that will cause him to
want to develop into a positive human being who can make a contribution to
society and himself.
Instead, we do the opposite.
We can continue to use fear to motivate each other and go on having the
highest percentage of population in prison, or we can start using some common
sense and develop the kind of user-friendly educational system that will get
our young people an “A” in life.
There is a adage that insanity is to continue doing the same thing while
expecting to get different results.
I guess that explains a lot about us, doesn’t it? Do we want to try to
change or do we want to continue the insanity?
Bob Butts
Moosic