I read CraigsList's Rant and Raves whenever I need to get my blood to a boil. Sometimes I just flip through them, but today I felt compelled to respond to one of them. In true R*R form, my response is first, followed by the original posting....I may turn this into a blog post or speech in the future because its what's swirling around in my head now.
Re: Responsible Gun Control Boston
I think what people are "getting all bent out of shape" over is that people like you use the deaths of 20 kids and 6 teachers as a platform to stand on to deny law abiding citizens their civil rights. Im a member of the NRA, GOA, GOAL and the Second Amendment Foundation and am so because these organizations are pointing out a lot of obvious problems with gun laws and the legislators who demand more of them.
One problem you gloss over IS the family - better parenting would go a long way if kids were taught personal responsibility instead of "mommy's gonna sue that school" every time little Johnny is reprimanded for being an a**h***. Im only 36 and I can remember being afraid to cross the teacher, the principal, the adult in the neighborhood, for fear that I'd get an ass kicking at home. When I was a kid in the 1980s, there were still a lot of guns - AR15s, AK47s, FALs and the like - this kind of shit NEVER happened.
And why? Did these guns suddenly get more deadly? More accessible? Nope - the laws were arguably less stringent back then. Was it the evil NRA and their Marketing? Not hardly - do you KNOW how many action films were churned out in the 1980s?
There HAS been a breakdown in culture, a huge one where parenting has been replaced by medicating. Where personal accountability has been replaced by a sense of entitlement. Where hopefulness of a brighter future has been replaced by a cynical outlook and mediocrity. People feel abandoned because they're born into a world where human interaction has been replaced by an internalized world of social media, video games and introversion.
Im not going to sit up here and preach; its not my style and as an atheist, it would be hypocritical for me to suggest that society needs prayer. Practically speaking however, I see the intrinsic value in organized religion within a community. At a time where there is absolutely no voice of morality, at a time where "anything goes" is the prevailing Beattitude, perhaps more religion IS in order. Perhaps if the wayward among us, who don't fear earthly authority, their passions might be reigned in by a higher authority.
To deny the actual problems society faces and to blame them solely on the firearm is just asking, BEGGING for more tragedy. Sure, you could devise a way to circumvent our rights, trash the second amendment and I'm willing to bet many, not all, law abiding citizens will turn them in. Why? Because they are fearful of the law. Because they are law abiding - the self same people who had NOTHING to do with the tragedies we've seen.
Know what though? People will still be killed. People will still be killed because while you may take the hardware away, you haven't re-programmed society's internal propensity to do harm or its bottemless capacity for selfishness. When that happens, when the death toll continues to mount, who will you blame then? The NRA? The gun makers? Or will you wake up, albeit in a time that's too far past due, and realize that your blase attitude towards the building blocks of humanity is what caused it all?
As an Atheist, I pray to nothing, but will cede to Reason and Reason alone and that it finds its way into your rationale.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Everyone is getting all bent out of shape over this gun control debate. So 20 kids and 6 teachers got massacred, sometimes that shit happens. What are you gonna do?
Crazy ****ed up people are always going to do crazy ****ed up shit. So maybe they have better weapons now. Again, what are you gonna do?
The NRA's well thought out 2 step plan is all America needs to sort all this shit out.
1. Deny there is a problem
2. Do nothing
Oh, and more prayer in school. And better parenting. That ought to prevent something like this from ever happening again.
Re: Responsible Gun Control Boston
I think what people are "getting all bent out of shape" over is that people like you use the deaths of 20 kids and 6 teachers as a platform to stand on to deny law abiding citizens their civil rights. Im a member of the NRA, GOA, GOAL and the Second Amendment Foundation and am so because these organizations are pointing out a lot of obvious problems with gun laws and the legislators who demand more of them.
One problem you gloss over IS the family - better parenting would go a long way if kids were taught personal responsibility instead of "mommy's gonna sue that school" every time little Johnny is reprimanded for being an a**h***. Im only 36 and I can remember being afraid to cross the teacher, the principal, the adult in the neighborhood, for fear that I'd get an ass kicking at home. When I was a kid in the 1980s, there were still a lot of guns - AR15s, AK47s, FALs and the like - this kind of shit NEVER happened.
And why? Did these guns suddenly get more deadly? More accessible? Nope - the laws were arguably less stringent back then. Was it the evil NRA and their Marketing? Not hardly - do you KNOW how many action films were churned out in the 1980s?
There HAS been a breakdown in culture, a huge one where parenting has been replaced by medicating. Where personal accountability has been replaced by a sense of entitlement. Where hopefulness of a brighter future has been replaced by a cynical outlook and mediocrity. People feel abandoned because they're born into a world where human interaction has been replaced by an internalized world of social media, video games and introversion.
Im not going to sit up here and preach; its not my style and as an atheist, it would be hypocritical for me to suggest that society needs prayer. Practically speaking however, I see the intrinsic value in organized religion within a community. At a time where there is absolutely no voice of morality, at a time where "anything goes" is the prevailing Beattitude, perhaps more religion IS in order. Perhaps if the wayward among us, who don't fear earthly authority, their passions might be reigned in by a higher authority.
To deny the actual problems society faces and to blame them solely on the firearm is just asking, BEGGING for more tragedy. Sure, you could devise a way to circumvent our rights, trash the second amendment and I'm willing to bet many, not all, law abiding citizens will turn them in. Why? Because they are fearful of the law. Because they are law abiding - the self same people who had NOTHING to do with the tragedies we've seen.
Know what though? People will still be killed. People will still be killed because while you may take the hardware away, you haven't re-programmed society's internal propensity to do harm or its bottemless capacity for selfishness. When that happens, when the death toll continues to mount, who will you blame then? The NRA? The gun makers? Or will you wake up, albeit in a time that's too far past due, and realize that your blase attitude towards the building blocks of humanity is what caused it all?
As an Atheist, I pray to nothing, but will cede to Reason and Reason alone and that it finds its way into your rationale.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Everyone is getting all bent out of shape over this gun control debate. So 20 kids and 6 teachers got massacred, sometimes that shit happens. What are you gonna do?
Crazy ****ed up people are always going to do crazy ****ed up shit. So maybe they have better weapons now. Again, what are you gonna do?
The NRA's well thought out 2 step plan is all America needs to sort all this shit out.
1. Deny there is a problem
2. Do nothing
Oh, and more prayer in school. And better parenting. That ought to prevent something like this from ever happening again.