I concede that stories of stopping a crime are more compelling. They are like an account of our Navy SEALs killing Osama bin Laden. People hear these accounts and they are energized; they want to cheer, “guns save lives.” On the other hand when people hear of gun tragedies they moan. These are “downers,” which remind the public that guns actually do kill. The former reveals our human desire to be in control of our life situations; the latter underscores our total lack of control and vulnerability. The facts are: there are between 150–200 justifiable homicides every year, largely carried out by law enforcement. But in 2007 there were 12,632 murders and hundreds of thousands of injuries.—
America and Its Guns: A Theological Expose, page 189
<idle musing>
So, which will it be? The 1–2 compelling stories with the 12,000+ murders? Or the thought that maybe I'm mortal and guns actually kill people?
I know. Why bother asking? Nobody wants to admit that they are mortal and not in control...and so the holocaust continues. And not just murder by uncontrolled weapons, but murder by abortion. Murder by drones. Murder by capital punishment. Murder by malicious thoughts that "other" people made in the image of God.
Did I leave anybody out? If so, it was unintentional; everybody is guilty of murder. But, even if we can't do anything about that—only God can, through Holy Spirit transformation—at least we should attempt to reduce the holocaust!
Just an
</idle musing>
No comments:
Post a Comment