Because I have a daughter the same age as Christina Green, the nine-year old-girl who was murdered during the attempted assassination of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, the tragic weight of that atrocity hit me hard. And by some unearthly coincidence, Christina was born on September 11, 2001. It's not in my nature to believe in a higher power, but can't help feeling like the universe is trying to tell us something.

There's plenty of blame to go around for what just happened in Arizona, but what we need to face up to, I believe, is that the problem runs deeper than a few irresponsible public figures or a misguided, hateful political movement. What we are witnessing is a culture coming unhinged---slowly but surely. And it's our culture. We all own it.

What kind of community creates a Jared Loughner? How is it that controversial talking heads like Glenn Beck resonate with so many Americans, while at the same time utterly repulse so many others? How can there be so much toxic divisiveness within a single culture, among people that have so much in common? Because it is a culture that is broken.

The causes of our fraying social fabric are complex, but in short, it is the inevitable result of a dominant ideology that inherently foments disconnection between people. Healing the culture means rediscovering that we are all in this together.

Over the past three years my writing, because it tends to be provocatively opinionated, has attracted a sizable audience of like-minded readers; unfortunately, for that same reason, it is mostly preaching to the choir. And for me, the extreme divisiveness demonstrated in horrific events like the shooting in Arizona is a painful reminder that provocation will only deepen the schism, and that preaching to the choir can't catalyze meaningful change.

So in the spirit of PubliCola's New Year's resolution series, and with hope for a better future for my daughter's generation, this is my resolution for 2011:

Write to unite, not divide.

(Although I won't stop hating mean commenters. Nor am I claiming that I will never again be a hugeass. And I also resolve to have more purple in my life.)