The New Normal: Is It Really Normal?
Interesting how certain new phrases weave themselves into our vocabularies. Have you heard, "the new normal"? It's alliterative; it's succinct. But I would like to consider where it's abusive to use in some difficult situations. Recently, we were stunned by the killing of 50 worshippers in two mosques in New Zealand. What stunned us was the number of people murdered in a relatively placid country. "Well," somebody said, "This is a part of the new normal." Violence is a staple of our lives. In our own country, school children, worshippers in Jewish temples, Sikh temples, Islamic mosques, and Christian churches have been slaughtered for the "crime" of gathering to pray, read their holy books, and listen to a message from their spiritual leaders. Is this "the new normal"? Is this what we have to accept? The only answer to a bad person with a gun is a good person with a gun? This is "the new normal"? Why does it ha