Coming from a country that has some of the strictest gun laws in the Americas, I can say that gun control doesn't work the way the government would have you believe. Gun control is evidently a very complicated matter as is gun violence or any violent crime for that matter. We as a people have built a great global civilization where life is many times safer than it was a century ago, but we are not perfect. Our societies are plagued by a myriad of issues such as poverty, crime, mental illness, war, political and social instability, among many others. However, we enjoy longer periods of peace, higher life expectancy, and better quality of life in general. Yet we are made to believe that we should live in fear.
If we truly care about solving such issues and all other problems that emerge from them, we must be honest to ourselves and to each other and we must acknowledge the root causes of all these problems. We must adopt an objective and unbiased mindset when analyzing any societal issues. We must put our differences aside and find common ground, we must realize that on both sides there is genuine concern and interest in peoples' safety and we must do what is best for all not just for some. We must work together on the things we do agree on, we must focus on the issues that affect us all. We must do so in a way that is just, in a way that is fair, and in a way that we do not compromise our rights and freedoms.
We have to realize that there is another side to this besides concerned citizens and gun owners; there is the government who seeks to take your rights away. There is the government that uses tragedy and the suffering of our people to push its own agenda, to turn people against gun owners, and to convince people that only by the government's grace can they be safe. We have governments that manipulate data and statistics, that pressure news and social medias to report on some things while keeping quiet about others. We have governments that spend millions of dollars to censor our opinions, to shun our concerns, and to silence our voices.
There are some fundamental facts that many gun-control advocates fail to acknowledge when pushing for more anti-gun legislation. Among fear mongering and endless sources of misinformation there are also the things that are not said, the things that are not shown, the things they don't want us talking about, the things that don't fit the narrative. There are many things that contribute to "gun violence" and violence in general, things such as:
*Faith
*Values
*Personal Accountability
*Mental Health
*Parenting
*Education
*Criminal Mindset
*Government Control
I will be writing long-form post on each of these subjects and how they contribute to the violence problem we have today. Now let us touch on the "Gun Problem" and how our faith, values, and personal accountability play a part in all this. So lets dive in.
FAITH, VALUES, AND PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY
I consider myself a Christian and, while I'm not overly religious, I do believe in a higher power, a God, a universal essence of justice and balance in all of existence. I believe in humanity's innate proclivity towards sin and imperfection, I believe in our innate capacity for violence and cruelty, in our weakness and hunger for power, but I also believe in our great capacity for love, in our ability to be compassionate, in our good qualities that keep us from acting out intrusive thoughts or acting out our anger and frustrations. I believe in our ability to decide to do good when it would be easier to do evil.
Faith and the believe that we are all accountable for all our actions to a higher power, has always been a magnificent tool in maintaining the peace; 'do not kill, do not steal, love thy neighbor, forgive others'. While it is true that religion is far from perfect and that all faiths have a tarnished track record, much good has come from it. For millennia faith and personal accountability have been at the core of our values and everything we believe. They have been at the very foundation of the laws we make, and the civilizations we have built. Our faith teaches us that all life has value, that every person ,no matter what, is created equal, that we can all attain forgiveness, redemption and, joy. These believes are very well reflected in the words of Thomas Jefferson when he drafted the declaration of independence of the United States of America:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness"
What beautiful ideals! With these believes, at it's foundation, one of the most powerful civilizations was built, a civilization that guaranteed liberty and justice for all of it's people and the opportunity for every individual to live a successful life.
THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM
Today our value systems have been under attack with all sorts of trivial and immoral ideas. God and Faith have been pushed out of our schools, media, and public spaces. Personal accountability is becoming a thing of the past, our newer generations have little appreciation of traditional values, and society as a whole is losing respect for life. We no longer care for each other the way we used to.
I believe this is at the root of our violence problem. What does it matter if I steal, rape, or murder if no one is watching? What does it matter if, after this life, I have nothing to fear and no one to answer to? I know many would argue that we should be good on our own, out of the goodness in our hearts and not because we fear God or an eternity of hell after death. Sadly we aren't there at the moment, we just aren't morally evolved to that point yet. We struggle against our nature every day, we battle our demons, we balance within ourselves and our actions the scale of good and evil. Everyday we choose to abide by the law and a good code of conduct and it's always easier when we know that we will be held accountable for our actions.
GUNS DON'T KILL, PEOPLE KILL
We have to take personal responsibility and acknowledge that guns don't kill, people kill. We are masters of our environment, we invent things and give them purpose. When a gun is held by a morally sound law-abiding person it is nothing more than a tool, a tool used for putting food on the table and keeping the wolves at bay, a tool used for defending one's life, for defending one's home, one's family, and one's country. A gun is an inanimate object made of carbon polymers and steel, it has no motivation and no will of its own, it has no conscience or soul, no thoughts or emotions. A gun has no awareness of our fears, thoughts and preferences, it doesn't feel if we like it or hate it. A gun is nothing more than a tool and It depends only on the will and intent of the person who wields it. It is only When guns are used by criminals and tyrants that horrible things happen and all the legislation in the world will not fix this. Criminals and tyrants have no respect for the law. Restrictive gun laws will only hinder law abiding citizens in their ability to defend themselves, because they are the only people who would comply with gun control legislation, criminals won't.
WHO WE ARE AS A SOCIETY
The tragedies we experience every day such as suicides, police shootings, and murders, are a reflection of the degraded moral state of our society; our loss of faith, our loss of values, and a lack of personal accountability. These are the things we should truly fix. Lets do better as people, lets have faith in God and a brighter tomorrow, lets return our good values, and let us practice personal accountability by being responsible for our actions. We can do much better, we can accomplish so much more if we set our differences aside and work together.
I would like to extend my deepest condolences to all the people who have lost someone to violence, my heart and prayers go out to all of you. Lets hope that we can build a better world for our children and those who will come after us. This is one part of the story, next time well touch on the subject of mental health and how it contributes to these issues.
If you have read this far I extend my deepest gratitude. If you have experienced the loss of a loved one and want to share I encourage you to do so, as we can all learn something new from each other.
Please feel free to comment and leave your opinions or questions on this thread. If you have any advice or just want to share, write it below or link to your blog.
Remember Lions, stay safe, stay strong, and stay free!
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