If you are like me, you heard the news of the nightmare that occurred at Pulse nightclub and you cried. 
Evil is incomprehensible. Only days later, we hear about the horrific loss of a toddler’s life at a Disney resort. Tragically during this same week, those in the Long Island community also learn about the death of Dr. Alex Shvartsman, holistic dentist, naturopathic doctor, writer, advertiser and, most importantly, a dear friend. I began looking for answers—anything to make sense of the random deaths around us.
I went on Facebook; it is a way to be with people when you can’t be with people. I began to see posts on gun control, on politics, on mental health, on our president. People began arguing. I saw rants against the NRA and responses like, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” I saw tirades about alligators, Disney and the toddler’s parents—hateful, judgmental comments spewed by cowards hidden behind keyboards. I saw conspiracy theories. I saw judgment and opinions at a time when all I was looking for was some sort of peace. I have opinions, too; but these tragedies are not my soapbox. To use them as such is selfish. Selfishness is evil, and evil cannot win. Evil wins if we use horrific events to further our own agendas. Evil wins if we don’t drop our opinions, for just one moment, to exercise our resolve to NOT utilize our freedom of speech if it means it may hurt someone. Evil wins if we don’t instead send love, prayers and positive energy to those that are suffering in a way that we hope we never experience. Perhaps we can use this month of July to utilize our freedom of speech and honor the victims of all senseless tragedy by creating an agenda of love. Believe me, as an American (and a publisher) I know how wonderful it is to have freedom of speech. However, my parents told me when I was just a little girl that “just because we can say something, doesn’t mean we should.” Smart advice that I take with me to this day. This July, let’s focus on how precious life is and how easily it can be taken from us by a disease, by an accident and by the unimaginable.
I am lucky and blessed because I believe in heaven. I believe that the victims of these recent tragedies are there, and it makes my heart feel just a little less pain. Evil wins if we begin to argue with our neighbors and friends over why these events happened. We don’t know why. Truly, we may never know. But we do know that we can love our family, we can love our friends, and we can love one another. Then evil loses and we all win.
Happy Fourth of July! God Bless the USA!
Malama Pono!
Kelly Martinsen, Publisher
