Persons, places and things: Don’t let the Grinch steal Christmas

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By Barb Arland-Fye

Arland-Fye

Our nation’s heart aches for the people of Newtown, Conn., as they struggle to come to terms with the violent deaths of 20 young children and eight adults in the days before Christmas.

As details emerged on television and computer screens, over the radio and in newspapers, my husband Steve noted, “They say people are taking down their Christmas decorations; they don’t think it’s right to be celebrating Christmas.”

His comment brought back a memory from my childhood of watching on TV the animated story of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” by Dr. Seuss. While the story isn’t religious in nature, it offered a wonderful moral about the love that Christmas ought to convey. I kept thinking, “The Grinch has stolen Christmas for the people of Newtown.’’ But in this case, the Grinch isn’t a person or a thing; it’s evilness, which the busyness of our lives prevents us from acknowledging and confronting.

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I’ve received several emails from people calling for stronger gun control laws in the wake of this tragedy. That might help, but don’t we need to focus more attention on getting to the root causes of the violence?

We are a society possessed by our possessions, individualism and the need to be recognized. Many in our society can’t resist violent video games, TV programs and movies.

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