Dear Editor,

Your editorial [Bullies take religion to extreme, Jan. 8 Langley Views, Langley Advance] was insightful and true.  

But there is one view of extreme and violent behaviour that is seldom explored, which you touched on correctly when you said that all organized religions stress “being good to each other.” 

You went on to say, “How does that ever, in any sane mind, translate into suicide bombings and beheadings and murders?”

Exactly: “…in any sane mind…” 

In my opinion, violent reactions are the act of an insane mind. When any person chooses murder as an action, that is an act of insanity, open and shut case. 

We can talk about bullying, radicalization, religious fervor. We can even consider the psychological, cultural, and economic climates that murderers grew up in, to give us explanations of such horrible behaviour, but the bottom line is they are guilty by virtue of insanity. And what can we do about that?

I don’t know. I am only one person, and I can only live my own life, in my corner of the world, in my backyard, with as much sanity as possible and hope it’ll rub off.

My Merriam Webster dictionary defines “sane,” in part,  as “able to anticipate and appraise the effect of one’s actions.”

Maybe toning down the ego some, and an awareness of the effect of my actions on others on a regular basis is all that I can do to help our world.

Paula Lemke, Langley

Langley Advance