My colleague Ned Cabot, sometime head of Common Cause, sent along the following reflections this afternoon:
I had to turn off my Christian radio station this afternoon. (Given my perverse tastes, it will not surprise you that I very much enjoy tuning into their musical entertainment: “God's Country.”)
The latest shooting tragedy triggered a discussion of... you probably guessed it, socialism, gun control and the perfectibility of man. Turns out that guns don't kill people, sin does. And we don't want to minimize the role of Satanism.
The question I'd ask is which is easier to restrict, guns or sin? I'd say, from a Christian standpoint, it would be guns. But maybe from the American standpoint, sin would be easier. What with all the guns we've got lying around.
Carl Diederichs | Jul 21, 2012 | 8:45am
This is perverse. The gun lobby has so brain-washed the already fearful people
that reason is not given a chance. As someone said, we need to keep fighting for gun laws that take guns out of the hands of, not sinners, but crazy people.
Rev. Paul T. McCain | Jul 21, 2012 | 3:30pm
Typical limp-wristed liberal prattle. We all see how well “gun free” zones work. We are all sinners. The world is filled with evil. That is why I cherish my right to keep and bear arms.
http://www.youtube.com/ptmccain
deeptree | Jul 21, 2012 | 4:56pm
Thanks for proving what Mark Silk wrote.
Mark Silk | Jul 21, 2012 | 5:49pm
As opposed to rigid-wristed conservative prattle, I suppose.
Rev. Paul T. McCain | Jul 21, 2012 | 7:28pm
The theater had very strict “no firearms” signs posted.
Unfortunately, evil people or mentally ill people exist.
If you are relying on the government to protect you, well, you are in the wrong country. We have the right in this country to keep and bear arms.
It’s a shame nobody in that theater was armed. A tragedy could have been prevented.
But, you liberals would have us believe that Nanny State can keep us all safe.
Wrong.
Check out my gun videos at:
http://www.youtube.com/ptmccain
Kevin M. Schultz | Jul 23, 2012 | 4:34pm
In Japan, they’ve chosen to restrict guns instead of sin, and the results were good, if by good we can agree to mean “fewer firearm-related homicides.”
I know the US and Japan have different histories, but it is an interesting alternative to ponder…
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/07/a-land-without-guns-how-japan-has-virtually-eliminated-shooting-deaths/260189/
Jimmy Mac | Jul 24, 2012 | 8:45pm
McCain: you are one sick puppy.
dan bloom | Jul 25, 2012 | 8:49am
Here come the ‘‘scare quotes’’ again, re the Reverend writing: “Typical limp-wristed liberal prattle. We all see how well “gun free” zones work. We are all sinners. The world is filled with evil. That is why I cherish my right to keep and bear arms.”
I am surprised he didn’t scare quote “limp” or “prattle” or “we” or “sinners” or “evil” or mostly importantly, “right” (to keep and bare (sic) arms)!
Shouldn’t they be called something more meaningful, such as “caveat quotes” or “flag quotes’’ or ‘‘spot quotes”, as if to flag or spotlight a word or phrase?
The entire shooting story is tragic and sad. The poor man was insane, mentally sick, we all know that. Nothing will bring the dead back, and nothing will bring Mr Holmes back to sanity. Something went very very wrong in his life, genes or DNA or birth defect or something. Drugs? Meds? There is more here than meets the eye. Sigh.
And Kevin, I lived in Japan for 5 years, and despite what the Atlantic says, Japan is jsut as full of sick, mentally ill people who kill people as the USA, on a per capital basis that is, I worked for a newspaper there, edited the police blotter for Tokyo, and sick people kill people there all the times, several times a week but they don’t use guns since guns are illegal except for the gangsters who can get them via underground systems, no, the insane in Japan use watermelon carving knives, swords and even cars to kill and maim people for senseless reasons. True, there are few guns in Japan for the average Kenji, and this is good. I hate America’s gun culture. I left the USA never to return in 1991 because of the gun culture. We do need gun control. Yesterday. But the forces of NRA prevail. More shootings will happen.
dan bloom | Jul 25, 2012 | 8:52am
And may I put this out there, since the chat room is full of intelligent, sensitive people? Why are most of these mass shooters Caucasian males over the past 50 years? White men seem to do this more than other ethnic groups, why is that? Hardly ever see a black mass killer? What’s up with that? Just curious, and if i am wrong, please teach me. I am all ears.
dan bloom | Jul 25, 2012 | 8:57am
Yes, Japan. a semi-police state with “police boxes at every corner, and every citizen
brainwashed to be a nice boy or girl, or lose face forever, does appear to have virtually-eliminated-shooting-deaths as the Atlantic blogger posts, but Japan is also a dark evil place where people die every day in insane crimes against neighbors using fruit knives,
rocks, bricks, metal bars and swords. Japan is not the sweet innocent Shangrila that the West thinks it is. I lived in the heart of Tokyo 1991-1996 and i saw the dark side of Japan, too. Great people, living under a very strict semi-police state. Which do you prefer?