To the editor,

Recently, these letters contained a well-meaning contribution about violence in America entitled, "The Need for Drastic Change." It expressed a concern about the need to reduce violence in America. The writer stated that Emerson College pollsters found that Democrats were more likely to accept political violence. Actually, the cited Emerson's polling is focused on the Brian Thompson murder, not political violence in general. A search of "violence acceptability polls by groups," provided only one poll (Citizen Data Aug. 20, 2024) which found Democrats as slightly more likely to accept political violence. Other results include the Marist poll (April 3, 2024) which indicates that Republicans (28%) were more likely than Democrats (12%) or Independents (18%) to support force" in politics. It found that 75% of all Americans but only 63% of Republicans disagree with the SCOTUS decision that a president should be immune from criminal prosecution. Furthermore, 56% of Republicans and 28% of Democrats believe that "the country needs a leader willing to break the rules" to get the country "back on track."  

The Navigator Research poll, Sept. 12, 2024, found that 87% of Americans, (92% of Democrats, 80% of Republicans and 71% of Independents) are concerned about political violence. That stands to reason as the last two presidential elections had similar margins of victory (though Biden won the popular vote by a much larger margin than Trump), but only Trump's supporters used violence to attempt to change the results of an election. Only Trump threatened that there would be "blood in streets" if he did not win. The writer's opinion asserted that progressivism, the "fall of Christendom" and social media have made America more violent and are reshaping our youth. Perhaps the message sent to youth by the electorate's acceptance of political violence and support of a convicted felon over a prosecuting attorney should be added to that list.  

Despite the claim that this is the most violent of times, FBI statistics indicate that violent crime decreased from 2020-24 to a 50-year low after reaching a record high in 2019-20. Historically, if the treatment of indigenous people, 150 years of government protected slavery, and the war to end it are factored in, those were far more violent times in America than the present. Additionally, Christendom is no automatic cure for violence. It was the dominant force in European violence during the Spanish Inquisition, and the religious wars of the 16th and 17th centuries. According to Pew Research there were about 600 million Christians in 1910, there are 2 billion+ now. During that time WWI and WWII occurred. However, it is agreed that in the US, the influence of Christianity has decreased, and that increased youthful adherence to the Christian principles of fairness and loving thy neighbor as thyself would certainly serve to decrease violent rhetoric and behavior.

Ron Ginsbach

Elmwood / Sun City, Ariz.