For the Kids

Sometimes I find myself wondering, what the fuck is wrong with us, anyway?

 

Twenty children and six adults are dead, killed in their classroom by an assault weapon wielded by a deranged young man. That weapon was purchased legally by the young man’s mother, who he killed prior to his murderous assault on a grade school.

This horrible act in Newtown, Connecticut can no longer be considered an aberration; instead it is the latest in a list of gun violence that includes assaults in a church and a movie theater – and not that long ago on the campus of Virginia Tech and a high school in Columbine, Colorado. When do we as a nation say, enough is enough?

Do not argue that a nut will find a way without guns to commit these atrocities because if it was that easy to perpetrate these crimes against humanity with a knife then knives, which require no background check, would be used instead as they are much more readily available.

Or are they? In a country where there is nearly one gun for each and every citizen, guns would appear to be quite readily available.

Speaker of the House John Boehner recently said that he was committed to dealing with the debt for our children and grandchildren. What is he willing to do about assault weapons for our children and grandchildren? What are we as a nation ready to do about gun violence for our children and grandchildren? Are we okay with being just a little bit safer that South America?

Nearly 80% of Americans claim to be Christians. Given the number of guns we own, it seems a given that many of those same people own guns. How can people who claim to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ own guns? I have a hard time squaring that circle.

In the wake of the Newtown massacre, I found this posted on Facebook…

Dear God,

Why do you allow so much violence in our schools?

-signed, a concerned student

Dear Concerned Student,

I’m not allowed in schools.

-God

I don’t know about you but I was taught in Sunday School that God was omnipotent and omnipresent and all the other omni’s that go with a person whose last name is Almighty. The God described in the words above hardly seems all that powerful; hardly omnipresent as the implication is that he was nowhere to be found in the halls or classrooms of Sandy Hook Elementary School. He also seems petty and vindictive. I was taught that God is love, not some prick asshole who would sacrifice 20 children to His own vanity.

And I think maybe – if there is a God – He was in that school.

Look, I’m sure the person posting did not intend to politicize the deaths of 20 children. I doubt they believe that allowing prayer in school would prevent violence like we saw in Newtown.

Yes, we need to address mental health and how we treat those with depression and other psychological illnesses but we cannot predict when a troubled young man will suffer his psychotic break. We cannot effectively screen every purchase of guns or ammunition; a significant number of guns are still purchased (I heard 40% on one of the news programs) without a background check. The Aurora shooter purchased tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition on the internet. Hunting and home defense do not require automatic or semi-automatic weapons. These guns should be banned and those who sell them as well as those who purchase them should be subject to arrest and prosecution. As President Obama said, something meaningful must be done.

If 20 dead children aren’t enough to prompt us to action then God help us all.

If 20 dead children aren’t enough to prompt us to action then this is the new normal.