What I remembered so distinctly were these words:
The lowest evil is like the highest love: it is mystery.
In the face of evil of such magnitude as what took place today in Newtown, CT, any analysis, diagnosis, conclusion runs the risk of rashness, blitheness, or self-deception. I've heard it explained that the word mystery has its root meaning "shut the mouth."
Not surprisingly, gun-control crowd is rising to the occasion, again. I don't pretend to know the history of American gun politics. But for those who think guns are the only weapon wielded in these crimes, I have a couple of headlines of recently history to share, from my native country, China. There were more similar incidents but these are the only ones I could find in English-language news archives. The weapons used in both cases: knives.
While I concede that the gun is a more efficient thus deadlier weapon than, say, the knife, I find that many of the gun-control activists (at least those on Facebook) for the most part hysterical in their reaction. It is disturbing to see their hatred for their political opponents extending to perfectly law-abiding gun owners. Many of these otherwise sophisticated thinkers seem intellectually incapable of recognizing that evil is a constant in human history and the culture of death is poisoning the advanced societies at large. Furthermore, the zeitgeist, of the last hundred years or so, is that evil, or sin, is a silly construct by the superstitious followers of a dark age religion. Ironically, when it comes to attacking their political enemies, such as the NRA, many of the same enlightened people morph into positive believers of evil.
But the depth and breadth of this subject is not for me. I am in general cynical and wary of politics and fruitless bickering.
I will shut my mouth, where there is only ashes.
I would rather put away bitterness and pray. When all is said and done, there are only the saints.
Little Sis- the one important fact to remember about American gun laws is that the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was put in place to give the citizens a means of protecting themselves from a despotic government, which is what we have right now in this once great nation.
ReplyDeleteBig Sis - I was aware of the point you made. Having grown up in a police state, believe me, I know too well what it's like to be defenseless when the might state comes rolling in with their guns and tanks. What I was, and still am, ignorant about, is the history of the debates over gun regulations. The words gun control is too generic, too vague, and have become too emotionally and politically charged for me. A sick man like this guy should not have been allowed a gun. Although it's not hard to conceive that he could have done significant damage with a machete.
DeleteI have one gun for home defense and this incident in Connecticut is rather about radical, pathological isolation in some young males...not about guns....and it's about our not processing such males in a mandatory manner into a more vigilant mental health system. People are too free to refuse mental help and companies are too free to produce disgustingly violent video games. Freedom can go too far in some areas and has.
ReplyDeleteThat said...two years ago in a black section of Jersey City, a white man from another state was arrested selling guns to black youth from his car. There is a gun problem in this sense: they should be produced not by the profit motive which produces too many guns by gun companies but they should be produced like our car license plates by a non profit agency that limits the number to roughly the number of households in the country to match the need for self defense.
As it stands, the excessive number of guns in circulation indirectly end up in high crime areas in big cities.
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DeleteI would never support the removal of gun ownership by the government. An unarmed citizenry will be like a declawed cat lost in a jungle when threatened by a tyrannical government - which can materialize in a blink because it would embolden the power hunger of the state machine. But there has got to be some ways to discipline the gun market to minimize the chances of such incidents, as your analysis suggests. My worry is that if the proponents of gun ownership don't turn pro-active, the lefty opportunists will, to the detriment of original intentions of the framers of the Constitution. To paraphrase G. K. Chesterton, the conservatives are those who don't want change what's bad, while the liberals who want the change have all the wrong answers. Again, I claim ignorant on the issue because I haven't done my homework on whether or not either side of the debate has made any sincere efforts to reform the situation.
DeleteI don't really think it's the profit from the gun companies that is the problem. Any form of restriction that limits gun possession for reasonable people is going to end the same way - with guns in the hands of the bad guys. There will always be someone, like the white guy in New Jersey, who is going to be an ass and pawn their weapons.
DeleteAch - I hope I didn't offend you! I just couldn't let a chance to promote 2nd Amendment rights pass. :)
ReplyDeleteThat said - if I knew where to point you to learn those answers, I would do so. Me - I just get all my info from the ball and chain.
I also realize that you could give the rest of lessons on what it's like to grow up the way you did, and how blessed we were to have had the freedoms we had. You must sometimes feel like - what the hell was the point in coming to America?