“Making friends and uniting communities with one peaceful resolution at a time.”

Good day gamers,

I’m just reflecting on the amount of violence in the world today. Throughout human history we have been violent towards each other. But why?

Being a veteran, I understand the type of violence that is caused by a declaration of war. The State declares war upon another State in order to gain economic resources, to spread political ideals, or to position themselves for better negotiations for any number of reasons. On occasion, throughout history, wars have also been fought for revenge. Revenge. That is a strategy based on an eye for eye, right? If revenge becomes the norm, then there will be no end of violence. Wars can also happen for protective purposes. I will attack you before you attack me, whether or not my reasoning is sound or based on facts. These protective behaviors can lead to fear, which can lead to segregation of peoples, which can lead to racism, pain, missed opportunities for healing, and general despair.

The world is very violent these days. You can open up any news source and you will see it. Every day we are exposed to it. You have probably witnessed violence at work, or in public places, or even between family members or friends, especially around the holidays. Our movies, the shows we stream, and our favorite TV episodes are filled with violence. And even if you haven’t witnessed violence lately in person, you have seen threats of violence, intimidation, and condemnation on social media.

What are we doing? Don’t all the major religions talk about love? Are the words of the sacred texts talking about doing onto others as you would have them do unto you? I guess you could single out passages from religious books that are also violent, but I think the end goal is forgiveness, to try and show mercy, to share in your resources, to be peaceful, to protect others, and after each day is done, to reflect on what was good about that day. What did you accomplish that day? Was it enough?

Please don’t let me see another hateful post on social media. It unnerves me that people I see that are famous, or even my own family and friends, post something about someone else that is hurtful, disrespectful, and potentially not even true. What does that do? It accomplishes nothing. It spread hate. It spreads distrust. It spreads the feelings of revenge.

Let’s all get together instead, play a game, have a laugh, and support each other in our endeavors.

You are all dearly loved.

If you made it to the end of the ‘different’ post, give yourself a hug, tell someone else that you appreciate them, and give yourself 100 XP for being a better individual by doing so.

See you soon!

• Game Master Dave