In order to make any progress on a problem, it is a good idea to be able to clearly identify just what the problem consists of and examine history and traditions.
Thinking about exactly what America's problem is with guns and murders and suicides (and school shootings, of course) is how I have tried to avoid feeling overwhelming shame and despair about my country. Of course, to call it "my country" is not very accurate, I suppose. America belongs, and has always belonged, to the rich and powerful.
This is not unique to the United States. I would imagine Romans from 57 CE would have said the same, as well as tenant farmers in Ireland and Wales, and Okies in the depression.
I saw a basic argument today that stated that the gun problem is actually a gun culture problem, and that makes sense. Many Republicans have adopted the principal of individual freedom as being more important than collective freedom. That is, MY right to buy guns, no matter how many or how lethal, along with giant stockpiles of ammunition, is far more important than the rights of young children to attend school without fearing being murdered.
I am disgusted by all politicians at this point, with nobody willing to really try to make changes in our national dystopia, where the country just shrugs as one million fellow citizens die from Covid -- hey, we're all going to die someday! -- and 18-year-olds murder in cold blood.
I'm certain the NRA convention this weekend will offer "thoughts and prayers," while drawing attention to almost anything that takes our minds off the fact that there are over 400 million guns in the U.S. "How dare you play politics after the latest mass shooting?" the worst hypocrites will say while knowing that they have created a system where there will never be a time for that discussion.
If there are cheap cigarettes available everywhere, one solid prediction is that there will be more smoking. If there are cheap fast food outlets everywhere, a solid prediction is that people will eat more food that is not all that good for them. If there are cheap guns available to anyone with a pulse... you get the idea.
The Republican Party is filled with hypocrites, but we all are part of the problem. I anticipate that I will attend church this Sunday and the minister will light the "compassion candle," and "lift up" the slaughtered innocents in prayer, as if that will do anything. Heaven forbid that anyone display any anger in a house of worship. We all just need to breathe and trust in God.
Just a few weeks ago, the scripture reading included the 12 plagues of Egypt, which included God massacring every first-born male in the nation to convince the pharaoh to let the Israelites go. Not a word was said about how appalling the very thought of worshiping such a god is.
Dead, innocent children? That's just how it goes. Over 45,000 gun deaths last year? The price of "freedom."
The very essence of Christianity is that the collective is more important than the individual. Why else do we celebrate one man's sacrifice long ago to redeem everyone?
The two teachers in Uvalde who died trying to shield their students from a deranged gunman will be praised as "selfless" and "models we all can aspire to be." I would guess that many ministers will focus on their sacrifice for others, and that their actions were "Christ-like."
And then they, and all their congregation, will go right back to taking care of themselves first. "America First" is a slogan that appeals to our country these days, as it excuses our own glorification of individual rights over the common good.
Those two teachers were heroes, or maybe just hapless victims caught in the hail of bullets, but they are most certainly dead, as are many of the students they attempted to save.
Many Americans will go to church Sunday and congratulate one another on how bad they feel, how many prayers they have offered, how THEY can protect themselves and their families with their own guns. They will be praying to a God who is fine with children being butchered, so why would the congregation change any behaviors?
Hey, I heard that same milquetoast minister proclaim a couple weeks ago that "God stops wars." Really? Can any evidence for such a claim be presented? Wars do eventually end, when the rich and powerful have had enough and lots of innocent children and powerless citizens are dead and cities are razed. If that reflects a clear strategy from the deity, I want a new deity.
It's tough to stay perpetually angry, unless you are the former president who obsesses over his own lies about a "stolen" election. And even he likely knows it's all just a game, the sort that the rich and powerful can have fun with.
And the massacres continue in the land of the free.
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