Our Savage Species

There are strong ties to the correlation between CSA and our savagery. Includes hope of healing transcendence.

We are all connected: Blonde child, Caucasian old woman, and white USA soldier. (This is an AI generated photo. I’m keeping my prompts, so you can see the bias AI has stored. A blonde child, could be a boy or girl.—and the soldier could be a male or female. AI decided the genders based on input from bias gleaned from various sources online.)

It started on the last day of 2025, when Heather Cox Richardson (HCR) asked, “If you are comfortable writing it down, I’d love to see in the comments what you did this year to help preserve American democracy and what you hope for 2026. Let’s keep building our momentum.”

HCR’s request gave me pause.

Besides wearing pants in elementary school and attending a couple of protests last year, I’m not an activist. How could I respond to Heather Cox Richardson, when I haven’t done much? I don’t really want to be part of the silent majority. But, I also don’t want to spend too much time gazing into the abyss.¹

I have often said, “My mormon roots go deep. I only want to give 10% ² of my time to this ongoing battle against childhood sexual abuse.

Freedom

I thought of Karen Fisher talking to me about being free, free from the shame and imprisoning effects of my own CSA. We carefully plotted out everything I needed to do to heal and recover. It was a daunting list. I felt a bit overwhelmed. Karen paused and said, “You will be free.”

I envisioned a caterpillar transforming to a butterfly.

Democracy

I thought of what I learned in elementary school about democracy, the republic and the USA’s revolution. The colonists got sick of paying high taxes and not having a voice. Their slogan was something like, “No taxation without representation.” I have a rudimentary knowledge of democracy,³ but I know it’s about the people. All the people. The Declaration of Independence even has a huge header: “We the people...”

Courtesy of Pexels.com

The basic principle: the people are free and equal. The politicians are elected by the people to represent the people. Yes, I’m clear. It’s for the people, us, all of us.

Back to Heather Cox Richardson’s inquiry. What will I do? Beside waving a sign around that says, “Love one another” not much. I was still contemplating what I could do and how I was going to respond to HCR’s question when…

The US invaded Venezuela.⁴

Boom

I thought of my father’s disdain for War. He knew of its evil. In WWII, he emerged as a decorated war hero. An Army Ranger, a Sargent, who lead his men through the jungles of Okinawa to take back to the South Pacific during WWII. ⁵

Then I recalled my stunned response when G.H. Bush, ignited “Operation Deseret Storm” I wrote about it in the first edition of Paperdolls.

I likened war, and even the denial of war, to CSA and incest. With an ironic twist on the denial many profess about incest and Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA).⁶

If we didn’t abuse children would we even need a military?

I thought of Linea Butler’s compelling posts, “If we didn’t abuse children would we even need a military?”⁷

Renee Good, a US Citizen was killed by ICE

Then, a stunning explosion, rocking me more than an inherent “a-ha” or an insightful “boom” moment: Renee Good, a US Citizen was killed by ICE. I watched the video. Stunned. I read Waylon Lewis’ (Editor-in-Chief, Medium), compelling piece, “She was a widow they made her child an Orphan”⁸

In this moving piece, Mr. Lewis asks, “What is wrong with us?”

I don’t know what is wrong with us. I have a strong hunch that if we alleviated child abuse from humanity it could cure the frequency and severity of our violent and savage actions.

Life is sacred. Human life is particularly sacred. This is a tragedy.⁹

Back to the original question from Heather Cox Richardson (HCR):

What am I going to do to help preserve American democracy? My goal is to help bring words of encouragement, support and hope to preserve the sanctity of human life. Children’s lives. Adult lives. Elderly lives, of all colors shapes and sizes.

I believe that shining light on the dark savagery of humanity, the perpetration of the abuse of children results in our society’s savage violence and aggression debilitating and killing too much of life itself.

Three (3) Profound Quotes:

For those not fully grasping the gravity of Childhood Sexual Abuse, here are 3 poignant quotes:

1. “It has been suggested that, given the vast array of crime and violence which can be traced to those who were sexually abused as children, child sexual abuse represents a greater threat to this country’s future than cancer or nuclear war. Hyperbole? Time will tell.”
   --David Heckler, as quoted by Carol Scott, in Paperdolls & Cowboy Boots.

2. “Adverse childhood experiences are the single greatest unaddressed public health threat facing our nation today.”
   —--Dr. Robert Beck, cited by Dr. Nadine Burke Harris

3. “If we didn’t abuse our children, would we even have a military?”
   —cited by cited by Linnea Butler

A quote a hope (I have this memorized, I suggest everyone take this to heart):

“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always.”

― Mahatma Gandhi¹⁰

1. The abyss is mentioned often. Derived from Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil Aphorism 146

2. The LDS Church basic on tithing is that members “should give one-tenth of their interest”

3. The definition of democracy: “an organization or situation in which everyone is treated equally and has the right to participate equally in management, decision-making, etc.”
https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/democracy-and-republic

4. Or whatever we did, arrested their dictator because he was not fairly elected? A bad man and put his 2nd in command in charge? or we took over the government because of drugs or something? I’m not exactly sure, but the USA took military action in Venezuela. Please don’t comment on the logistics of this action. This action is not really the point of this post, it is merely showing my process in deepening my commitment to fight the ongoing battle against childhood sexual abuse.

5. https://www.paperdolls.today/p/to-my-father

6. See Paperdolls & Cowboy Boots, approximately pages 141-143

7. https://www.paperdolls.today/p/if-we-didnt-abuse-our-children-would

https://www.paperdolls.today/p/if-we-didnt-abuse-our-children-would-04f

8. Jan 20, 2026 Update: I received feedback from one of our subscribers that this article title was not correct. Yes, now we have more information. At the time it was published, this was the pubic information. According to the information that was available at the time, it was correct. If one clicks on the link, one will notice the story has be updated according to up to date information.
And, the key portion of the article still stands: “What is wrong with us?”

9. Last Friday, Child Abuse Survivor, wrote an excellent piece on building community and the perils of tribalism. Please read this excellent piece here: 2026 is Nine Days Old and We’ve Never Needed Each Other More (more on this later)

10. https://www.paperdolls.today/p/love-is-stronger-than-hate