Once again, we are hearing the news of another school shooting in the US. Another tragedy, another 20 children dead. Another community devastated. There are a number of comments that I have seen on twitter, some of which are generating a lot of anger. I want to explore some of these responses.
"It's part of Gods plan". Often with the corollary that we cannot see the whole picture now, but there is a bigger picture. I find this response makes me angry. I do not want or follow a God who has to include the murder of young children in his "plan". I do not want a God who has to inflict this pain and suffering on a community for his "plan". I want nothing to do with such a God or such a plan. The God I know and believe in is curled up on the sofa, sobbing, holding his head, screaming with the pain and anguish. He shares the suffering of that community. Or He is no God at all. Assuming everything is part of some "grand plan" is not faith, it is fate.
"Now is not the time to discuss Gun regulation" This is the response from President Obama, and I think he is wrong here. It is precisely this sort of time that there is a desire and a motivation for change. In the UK, whenever we have avoidable catastrophes, there is often an announcement of something to change and avoid this happening again. The reason is that there is then a desire and reason for Doing Something. This does not always create good laws or action, but often, in the longer term, it does make important changes.
"This should drive the banning of guns" Actually, this is also wrong. The reason for changing gun law, or making any other changes should not be outrage, but because it is the sensible thing to do. Gun restriction in the US - which I am all in favour of - should be done because the current situation is wrong, and leads to these sorts of tragedies. The problem is that Americans hold onto their guns like British people hold onto their cars and their right to drive. Both are causing problems.
The problem is that the "right to bear arms" is enshrined in the constitution by the founding fathers of America. They would, I suspect, be appalled at the recent events. When these rules were made, the power of existing guns was not that great, and at that time, self protection was quite an important aspect of life. We do not live in the same world today. The weapon used in Newtown was far more powerful than anything you need for simple self-protection. Maybe the rules should be altered to allow weapons to the same power as the most powerful ones available at the time of the constitution.
I think there is a place also for asking why people feel a need to express their anger in this murderous way. Surely it is worth taking time to help people deal with their anger and frustration. Surely there is something wrong in a society that drives people to this level of anger and frustration. This is not just a US problem - every society need to allow this sort of expression, in ways that are safe. The problem in the US is that, so often, this expression is violent and deadly. Addressing not just the weapons but the people is crucial. Somewhere, this is a people issue, and if we ignore the people side of it, we will fail. Americans will find ways of getting guns whatever, and the results may be even worse.
In the end, ranting is not the response at this point. Shouting and screaming that "Its all part of Gods plan!!", or "We need gun control!!" is not the total of the response to make here. At this point, we should be praying and seeking comfort for those who have suffered. We should be hurting with God for the pain that has been caused. And yes, we should have a reasoned commitment to make changes to the society that produces these hurt people.
My prayers and my thoughts are with the people of Newtown today. May God be with you in your anguish.
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It’s Newtown ... pronounced like two words. Nice article though. Sheldon
ReplyDeleteArgh - I saw both version on my twitter feed last night, and got the wrong one. I have changed the post.
DeleteMalik3000 from Ship of Fools here. Thank you for expressing it well. Even the the all-sacred @nd Ammendment is unfortunately enshrined in the US constitution, it doesn't need to be interpreted as allowing indiscrimate accumulation of weaponry with little or know regulation -- but it is. In Georgia you can pack heat just about anywhere without restriction. I hate it -- I wish I lived in a place that was more civilised.
ReplyDeleteAnd you are damn right that now IS the time to talk/do something about it. I don't hold out much hope that any real action will be done by our next-to-spineless president (for whom have i voted twice given the even worse alternative).
Re "Americans hold onto their guns like British people hold onto their cars and their right to drive. Both are causing problems". Unfortunately Americans (i.e U.S.-ians) also hold onto their cars as well, and i'd say even more strongly than the British -- public transportation in most places in the U.S. is extremely poor to non-existent.
Thank you. My comment on cars was my irritation that Brits so often laugh at the "right to bear arms", but the UK "right to drive a car" is almost as culturally embedded. Despite the number of people killed each year, car ownership is not restricted.
DeleteI just wanted to help Brits understand something of what changing the gun laws means, by comparing it with how we would feel if the worst 10% of car drivers were banned from owning a car.
One of the reasons are the poor public transport, but there are cultural principles as well.