This is a sacred time shrouded in sadness. This is usually a season to celebrate family ties and wishes for peace. But the holiday season was disrupted by the senseless massacre of 27 people. Twenty of them were small children.

President Obama mirrored the grief of the nation at these killings. At his press conference, the President identified as a parent, recognizing the painful loss that families face with the death of a child. Later, at a service in Newtown Connecticut he spoke movingly, offering consolation to the community.

“No single law, no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society,” he said. He added, “In the coming weeks I’ll use whatever power this office holds” in an effort “aimed at preventing more tragedies like this.”

“Because what choice do we have?” We can’t accept events like this as routine. Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage? That the politics are too hard? Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?”

It has been a long time since such public questions have been raised. Yet there is little sign that we as a people are willing to seriously pursue them. We fall quickly into the predictable debates of gun control laws, questions of motive and parenting, of mental illness and disturbed individuals.

But there is a deeper level of violence we continue to ignore.