A man stabbed in Camas by a homeless man for ripping up his paintings makes headlines (“Artwork ripped up, man stabbed in Camas,” Feb. 1, The Columbian). This tragic story depicts the callousness of people in our society.
Of course, violence is never the answer. Both of these people in this situation were victims, Timothy Krull-Thompson for being injured, and Michael Van Gelder for the harshness and insensitivity of Krull-Thompson. I propose we as a society educate the public better concerning empathy for others.
According to the article, police said Krull-Thompson’s wife thought the paintings were offensive because they “depicted female breasts.” This was not affecting Krull-Thompson or his family. We need to educate society on the effectiveness of walking away, and not taking matters such as this into our own hands. Ripping up Van Gelder’s paintings was never the answer.
We can integrate healthy coping strategies into the public through advertisements, such as billboards and television ads, as well as integrating this into the school system. We do not want any more devastating stories such as this to happen again.
