Jac and I want to express our sorrow and condolences to all of the families and people of Newtown, Ct. This horrific crime is too much to imagine, let alone bare. It is just heart breaking to see the faces of those who have lost their lives, and now to listen to their mothers, fathers and friends speak, through their tears, words of loss and love. We have very dear friends with very young children who live in Newtown. Thank God they are all safe. The big question is WHY? What could make a mind snap…..where this young man could calmly shoot down such innocent young spirits? I doubt this question will ever be answered. One woman from Newtown was interviewed and she asked “what is happening to this country, what is happening to this world.” A question many of us ask every day………………..God bless
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I am focusing on the question HOW rather than WHY, which I think is a question having no comprehensible answer. I have long been an advocate for gun control. No, not taking guns from sportsmen and women. But enacting sensible measures to protect all of us from this kind of gun violence. I can remember the days when the NRA focused on gun safety, not the mindless proliferation of guns. There are 85 guns for every 100 Americans. I would think that any responsible gun owner would support this. The second component is our system of treating mental illness. And yet funds are cut for this public health need time and again. Yes, we pray for the victims and those who love them. We pray for the safety of all Americans to live freely in our country without escalating fear of gun violence. But we NEED to pray for guidance to bring us out of this horrific mess.
I’m in full agreement with you, Barbara.
Thank you, Goldie. I don’t think there will ever be any perfect solutions, but there are very helpful ones and constructive ones. We need only look to some of the other industrialized “wealthy” countries to gain a measure of what works, and what doesn’t work. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. More controlled and regulated availability of guns has worked across the board in other countries. Incidents of gun violence inevitably go down, and often very rapidly. There are proud hunting traditions in many other countries; most of which I am familiar with are in Europe. Sportsmen there are true sportsmen who are very protective of preserving the integrity of the traditions their sport. Protocols for gun safety are respected and scrupulously followed. Places where hunting can take place are strictly prescribed. Hopefully true sportsmen in our country will step up to the plate to eliminate the destructive aspects of the issue of gun ownership and be allies in confronting this national problem.
Dear Louis, you ask WHY? there is no answer. Theologians and philosophers have called tragedies such as this one “the mystery of evil.” In our sorrow all we can do is pray for the families who have lost those precious children. It is not possible to truly understand a deranged mind, but it should be possible to restrict people like him from the access to assault weapons. Most Western countries have laws in that respect. Perhaps our Congressmen find now some strength to so something about it. Tucson, Colorado, and now this…There have been too many words and no deeds. It is time to act.
May God have mercy on those mourning and on all of us.
Yes, Alicia, that is the other matter I was referring to. I have family roots in Pennsylvania, and many of my wonderful, sane and uncles and cousins — who are fantastic family men and pillars of their community — are hunters. Their families have bonded during their moments in the woods. (I guess it is a “Deer Hunter” sort of thing.) Not for a moment would I want to take their rifles from them; they are, as I wrote, good and decent people.
However, none of them needs a Bushmaster (similar to an M-16, I am hearing) or other rapid fire assault firearm. There must be a middle ground. As the ancients said: “Everything in moderation. Nothing in excess.”
And, yes, continue to pray for the souls who have left this earth so brutally and for their loved ones left behind.
Don’t if my early-morning ramblings were clear, but I am on the side of introducing stricter gun control laws. I just wanted to point out the “hunter culture” and that many responsible and decent people (not just men) become angry about this thought of controlling firearms because they know who they are and that they are not dangerous. Of course, as we learned from the evil that swept through Newtown, Conn., the responsible person’s firearms can make their way to someone who is not tethered to reality. Limit the number and kinds of firearms available. I guess that is a start, at least.
My thoughts and prayers also go out to the family and friends as well as the whole community. It is very sad and very hard to comprehend why someone would do such a thing. Very tragic. Just senseless loss for everyone.
Laura
Thank you for your public acknowledgment of a sorrow beyond comprehension.
Those who follow (or were introduced to as children) a belief system that recognizes wholesome respect for others, oneself and the world typically don’t descend into such tragic destruction. I’m not a Bible-thumper, so don’t drop my message like a hot potato. Value systems (sane ones — again, just use common sense to know which are solid) help us with a frame of reference for good and respectful behavior. Many folks these days don’t have a moral reference point. They are on their own. This makes for a confusing and dangerous world.
There is another matter, too, but I won’t address it here.