More Gun Violence

Here we go again. It is 5:55 PM and I just returned home, turned on CNN to see what is happening in the world and a story about gun violence greets me. Three people at the University of Georgia have been killed at a gathering of the "Town and Gown" community theater group. Who is suspected of doing this? Someone who is mentally ill. An individual who is involved in the drug trade. A criminal who lost his temper and "capped" some one he didn't like. No the person suspected of killing these individuals is a respected member of the faculty at the University. A law abiding citizen. How often have we heard the refrain that goes something like, "When lawabiding citizens can't get guns; only criminals will have guns." The man who is suspected of this crime would be considered a "law abiding citizen" any where in this country as a member of a university faculty; yet it seems that he may be responsible for creating the latest victims in this country's decade long carnage caused by guns.

How long will it be before we have reasonable gun laws in this country? How many people have to die before, as a country, we realize that no one needs to own a military style weapon such as an AK-47 or an AR15. No one except the military and the police. No one needs to own a pistol again except the military and the police. I know that these obviously sensible observations will drive those in the gun lobby crazy because they are afraid that they may loose their toys. To think that losing those toys is more important than peoples lives is, perhaps, one of the most immoral concepts one can have.

To defend their "right" to own these types of weapons the gun lover will say that he/she has to have them to protect themselves. I would suggest to those who feel that they need this protection that they ask their pastor or priest where their real security lies. I suspect the she/he will have a different answer for them. Their answer might be something like:

Protect me Lord God!

I run to you for safety,

and I have said, 'Only you are my Lord!

Every good thing I have

is a gift from you."

You, Lord, are all I want!

You are my choice,

and you keep me safe.

Psalm 16: 1, 2, 5 (CVE)

The Cost of War Made Personal

09/30/2008

The Cost of War Made Personal

by The Reverend James R Young

My Father, Benjamin Young, grew up in a household that hunted the lands regularly. He was comfortable with guns and handled them expertly and safely. His family hunted everything from small game to birds to deer, even doing some trapping to help pay bills. Then my Dad, fresh out of high school in 1936, joined the Army.

He had other funny stories, but there were far fewer of them after the start of the Second World War. When he got back from the war, he got rid of every gun he owned and never touched another one again. Dad nearly always refused to say anything at all about the war. The only topics he'd even consider discussing were interesting countries that he had seen and the wonderful people he'd met. I have a copy of a charcoal sketch of my Dad made during the war that is eloquent in its sadness. It was done by a young soldier who was a commercial artist before the war. It is signed "Private Morris, November 1944, Somewhere in France." Dad commented only briefly on the sketch: It was made in a foxhole and Private Morris died 2 days later in battle. I pressed my Dad to tell me anything more about what it was like to fight in the war. He said flatly that he would not, that if any vet ever offered to tell battle stories he was, in all likelihood, lying. And that was the end of it. When he died in 1972, those terrible memories died thankfully with him.

I have a very hard time physically and emotionally watching violence on television and in film. That is why I waited to watch Saving Private Ryan until it came out on home video. I was reasonably certain that I could not have watched in a theater. I was right. The chaos, the intensity of the violence and the utter randomness of death and injury in the opening scene of the Normandy invasion was so distressing to watch that I had to stop it for a while before I could resume the film. All I could think was how did my Father - or anyone- survive that? Later I worked up the nerve to ask my father-in-law, Bob (who was also a World War II veteran) if that scene was at all realistic. He thought for a while and finally, very quietly said, "It came the closest of any war film I've ever seen but it still didn't come close to the reality."

Many years later I have come to understand in just a very small way, the emotional wounds that my father, my father-in-Law and veterans like them to this very day carry with them. I have spoken to a few veterans from active duty in current combat zones, and all I could do was to thank them for the willingness to serve their country with honor. All the while I was thinking of the cost to veterans like my Dad and to veterans today who suddenly came home and were told that they could go back to their lives. The emotional and psychological support for vets and their families is getting better all the time, but can we ever really know the intrinsic costs of war - even to those who come home with no physical wounds? I recently spoke to a veteran who was in a combat zone for many months and saw no action. Even he is having trouble getting used to life as it was before the tour of duty because of the stress and uncertainty that were his constant companions.

It's no secret that I have had serious misgivings about the Iraq War from the outset - but NOT in the way that our armed forces have served our nation. The financial costs of the war will continue to haunt us as a nation for years if not decades. But can we ever truly begin to count the human cost in physical, emotional, and spiritual terms? I'm not sure that we ever will appreciate those costs of this or any war.

The Rev. James R Young is the Rector of Christ Episcopal Church, Albert Lea, MN, and is a member of Paths to Peace in Freeborn County.

Gun Violence

This is the article from the New York Times Op-Ed page I promised I would post when I was blogging about gun violence in an earlier posting. As I said then, the author quotes statistics that point up the need for strong and effective gun laws. Given the limited success of those advocating for sensible gun laws in the past, this problem has existed for decades, those of us who take this principled stand are probably, as I have said before, shouting into the wind. But then this blog is called Don Quixote of Rome!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/opinion/14herbert.html

Had enough gun violence? | csmonitor.com

There is an editorial from the Christian Science Monitor at the bottom of this post entitled "Had enough gun violence?" printed in February of 2008. Click on the link to read the article.

The problem of gun violence is an unending problem that has been with us for decades. Much of what the author says has been said before and gun control advocates may be only shouting into the wind, given the money behind the NRA from the gun industry, but how can people in good conscience who abhor violence do otherwise. For that matter, how can Christians keep silent? When Jesus said, "blessed are the peacemakers" he wasn't referring to the western six shooter made famous in 1950s shoot-um-up cowboy movies. As you read the article consider what the author says about the gun laws in Mass. and the futility of that state's strong gun laws because of the lax gun laws of several other New England sates that feed guns into Mass. The answer is, of course, strict nationwide gun laws. But if this obvious solution is suggested to the NRA or any other gun lover it is prudent to have a defibrillator available. They can not fathom having their toys taken away.

I'll be posting another article from the New York Times Op-Ed page shortly. The author sites statistics to support his position and as a result also make a strong case against gun violence. Having said this it seems incomprehensible that anyone could be FOR gun violence; but advocating against strong, appropriate gun legislation is advocating FOR gun violence.
Had enough gun violence? csmonitor.com

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Nuclear Weapons: How Many?

The web site True Majority has posted a new (to me) example of the how many nuclear weapons the United States has stockpiled. As the web site says,"...see Ben's new demonstration on how crazy our nuclear stockpile has become." I have posted the video. Why not take the action suggested by True Majority; I have.