I want to write about all the High School and College Graduates we know who we are so proud of. I want to send them out into the world with wishes for a long and amazing life. Children, nieces, nephews, friends, a daughter from another mother.... On and on... They are AMAZING. They are capable of great things. They better be ready because we are launching them into a crazy world full of hate and violence, selfishness and pain.
This morning as I watched the news, the shooting in South Carolina is all over the place. The emphasis of the story is on the vigils, and the community coming together to pray, the clear indication that this was a HATE crime. A young man filled with so much hate that he sat with a group of people in a church for an hour and then slaughtered them. So many prayers. Some asking how can God let this happen. God didn't let this happen. I'm pretty certain SHE is weeping and despairing that we can't seem to get our act together. We are responsible. All of us. We live in a world that separates us from each other by our differences. Babies are born ready to love anyone. We teach them who is the "other."
The attention is on the victims. The media is trying to take the focus away from the baby-faced killer and I think that's good. We need to know the victims so we can truly mourn them. Maybe then we will get off our fucking asses and CHANGE THINGS. I know my parents read this and I apologize for my language, but I am so angry right now and no other words suffice.
There will be calls for more attention to mental health and to racism and hate and all this is good. These are discussions that need to happen and changes need to be made. Perhaps more attention will be on how children are loved and nurtured from day one. Maybe there will be talk of communities pulling together to create stronger villages so children who are suffering, struggling, or being raised in hateful circumstances will be identified and supported before they become hateful killers.
THESE ARE ALL CONVERSATIONS THAT NEED TO BE HAD.
What will be touched on and then swept away however, will be talk of guns. This is where I can't stand it anymore. What the hell is wrong with this country that despite shooting after shooting, horror after horror, we STILL CAN'T ADDRESS THE OBSCENE NUMBER OF GUNS AVAILABLE IN THIS COUNTRY. I'm not even talking about reasonable guns for hunting. I'm talking about guns designed for the sole purpose of killing PEOPLE. We've done this to ourselves and it will continue until those in positions of power at the local, state and federal level stop bowing down to the special interest groups and say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. There are weapons that simply shouldn't be available to anyone. There are weapons that should be restricted. IF GUNS ARE NOT AVAILABLE, THEY CAN'T BE USED TO KILL PEOPLE.
But wait, guns don't kill people, people kill people. FUCK THAT. In countries where guns are not available death rates are dramatically lower. Look it up. Any rational person looking at the rates of gun violence in the US vs any other 1st world country (and many 2nd and 3rd) can see that eliminating or even reducing access to guns significantly impacts on gun violence. This is not rocket science. But what about the second amendment you say?? What about it? What part of anyone and their dog being able to have as many guns as they want, says anything about a "well-regulated militia." Pretty sure the Founding Fathers (and Mothers) didn't have this insanity in mind.
So many of the discussions that need to be had around mental health, race, poverty etc., are so critically important, but perhaps if we could get our heads out of the sand and get the weapons out of the conversation, we would actually have time to have these conversations. Instead we are spending more and more time, mourning, praying and cleaning up the blood of innocents. I'm pretty sure God is saying ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. When are we going to listen?
Perhaps the current crop of Graduates will be strong enough and smart enough to change things. Right now I feel like we have failed them and left them with an awful mess to clean up. If anyone can do it though, I bet they can. I hope they can.
This morning as I watched the news, the shooting in South Carolina is all over the place. The emphasis of the story is on the vigils, and the community coming together to pray, the clear indication that this was a HATE crime. A young man filled with so much hate that he sat with a group of people in a church for an hour and then slaughtered them. So many prayers. Some asking how can God let this happen. God didn't let this happen. I'm pretty certain SHE is weeping and despairing that we can't seem to get our act together. We are responsible. All of us. We live in a world that separates us from each other by our differences. Babies are born ready to love anyone. We teach them who is the "other."
The attention is on the victims. The media is trying to take the focus away from the baby-faced killer and I think that's good. We need to know the victims so we can truly mourn them. Maybe then we will get off our fucking asses and CHANGE THINGS. I know my parents read this and I apologize for my language, but I am so angry right now and no other words suffice.
There will be calls for more attention to mental health and to racism and hate and all this is good. These are discussions that need to happen and changes need to be made. Perhaps more attention will be on how children are loved and nurtured from day one. Maybe there will be talk of communities pulling together to create stronger villages so children who are suffering, struggling, or being raised in hateful circumstances will be identified and supported before they become hateful killers.
THESE ARE ALL CONVERSATIONS THAT NEED TO BE HAD.
What will be touched on and then swept away however, will be talk of guns. This is where I can't stand it anymore. What the hell is wrong with this country that despite shooting after shooting, horror after horror, we STILL CAN'T ADDRESS THE OBSCENE NUMBER OF GUNS AVAILABLE IN THIS COUNTRY. I'm not even talking about reasonable guns for hunting. I'm talking about guns designed for the sole purpose of killing PEOPLE. We've done this to ourselves and it will continue until those in positions of power at the local, state and federal level stop bowing down to the special interest groups and say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. There are weapons that simply shouldn't be available to anyone. There are weapons that should be restricted. IF GUNS ARE NOT AVAILABLE, THEY CAN'T BE USED TO KILL PEOPLE.
But wait, guns don't kill people, people kill people. FUCK THAT. In countries where guns are not available death rates are dramatically lower. Look it up. Any rational person looking at the rates of gun violence in the US vs any other 1st world country (and many 2nd and 3rd) can see that eliminating or even reducing access to guns significantly impacts on gun violence. This is not rocket science. But what about the second amendment you say?? What about it? What part of anyone and their dog being able to have as many guns as they want, says anything about a "well-regulated militia." Pretty sure the Founding Fathers (and Mothers) didn't have this insanity in mind.
So many of the discussions that need to be had around mental health, race, poverty etc., are so critically important, but perhaps if we could get our heads out of the sand and get the weapons out of the conversation, we would actually have time to have these conversations. Instead we are spending more and more time, mourning, praying and cleaning up the blood of innocents. I'm pretty sure God is saying ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. When are we going to listen?
Perhaps the current crop of Graduates will be strong enough and smart enough to change things. Right now I feel like we have failed them and left them with an awful mess to clean up. If anyone can do it though, I bet they can. I hope they can.
No comments:
Post a Comment