By many accounts, this has been a truly anxiety-ridden bummer of a week, kicked off by an ominous dream. I can look at it that way, or I can look at some lessons learned and move on. I think I'd rather do that. I do not like spending time with my mind stuck in muck.
So, ka-boom. There have been random shootings all over the city for a couple of weeks now. People are jumpy. This isn't all just your typical gang-related fighting, this is people being struck by stray bullets while driving, shot at festivals, and gunned down while standing at the door to their apartment, drinking coffee or getting into their cars. These aren't people who solicit violence, these victims have been anyone. They could be me or you.
The gun debate rages on. It seems so simple to me, but I've recently learned another lesson. Do not, under any circumstances, jump into this debate on a public forum, unless you're looking for trouble. I posted a quite innocuous response (or so I thought) about this on a Facebook "friend's" page in response to their status update about how it's not a "gun problem". Of course, guns don't kill people, right?
My point was that it doesn't matter if the guys drinking coffee were armed. They never would have known to, or had time to, retaliate when the psycho shot them. If the psycho didn't have a gun, there would have been no victims that day. That seems like a stone cold fact to me.
What I didn't think through when I posted it, was that I was messing with this guy's core belief that bearing arms is a God-given right. What I said to him, essentially, was that no one should have guns. That's a strong stance to take, and though I believe that in my heart, stating it to someone like this guy was just like waging war. His response was to send me a scathing email basically telling me I'm an idiot and blocking me from his account. I can only guess how the rest of that conversation went on his page after I was gone. It doesn't really matter. I've made a note of it in a big way.
I have been stretching my mind ever since that exchange, to try and understand his viewpoint. Not to try to agree with it, but just because it seems so absurd to me and I want to know how someone could possibly think that way. I don't think it's a good thing to just spout off because I can. I want to be thoughtful when I'm interacting with people that I clash with, so I can learn from them. What I don't want to do is be a one-dimensional, closed-minded ignorant jerk who can only see things my own way. That's the reason this world is in so much trouble in the first place.
Hopefully some gentler lessons are on the way. This week has been quite the exhausting doozy.
There is a middle ground. Konrad Lorenz convinced me that coming to terms with guns means to come to terms with those who use them responsibly, mainly hunters. Hunters have a responsibility to be stewards of the environment and as such can be co-opted to support causes that preserve or enhance the environment. However, having noted that, I see virtually no good reason to allow certain high powered rifles or handguns into the world. But, I fear, it's a Pandora's Box issue...once they are in the world they always will be.
ReplyDeleteI read recently that police in Germany fired guns a total of less than 20 times the entire year last year. That seems to me that what we really need to change is the culture.
B.D. stated it very well. I agree that the right to bear arms will always be there and should for hunters and responsible folks. But there are all kinds of guns that should not be out in the world at all. They are just plain ugly and not needed.
ReplyDeleteIf only everyone would take a moment and think about the other side, even if they don't agree with it, but being educated on all views would greatly help this world.