Why Are People Mean?

Meanness is abundant.

It lives in the car at the intersection, the checkout line at the grocery, the cop on the beat.
It lives under burkhas and in churches, in alleyways and mansions.

But meanness is a peculiarly human institution. Dogs are not mean, unless they are mistreated by humans. The animal world is not unkind to itself. They do not take potshots at other individuals just for fun. They don't have egos. They don't hold grudges. They don't kill for sport.

Fidel Lopez endured unbearable cruelty at the hands of his attackers at the flashpoint at Florence and Normandy during the LA Riots of 1992. He has lived a subdued life, without bitterness; but his life was irrevocably altered, from promising, to difficult. He has suffered the after-affects and his family have born the years of desperation and recuperation that resulted from their losses.

Rev. Bennie Newton, saved his life. Holding a Bible aloft, he warned rioters: "Kill him, and you have to kill me too."

Another story that caught my attention today, the same day, was a brief about a woman who was starved, beaten and tortured in Afghanistan AT THE AGE OF 15 - so that her in-laws could force their new daughter-in-law into prostitution. The girl had her nails pulled out, among other things, before she was finally rescued.

Afghan child bride Sahar Gul, 15; mutilated for refusing prostitution and rescued from a toilet-prison.

And lastly, there is the story about Junior Seau, a man who is close to my heart because at one time, my deceased husband helped finance his football scholarship at USC... Seau is remembered as kind, generous and warm-hearted to a fault. What happened to him?

Cruelty exists and is tolerated, even encouraged by governments.

For the last seven months, at the end of each day, and first thing in the morning, I pray to be kind today. It is the hardest thing I have ever done, and the best.

May we all be kind to one another today.