The wounded cry of aggrieved mother
Lori Alhadeff reverberates throughout our nation as she prepares to lay to rest
Alyssa, her murdered 14 year-old daughter. Alyssa is one of 17 deceased victims of the February 14, 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Fla.
We are stunned. We are angry. We
are overwhelmed with the senseless slaughter that appears to stalk this country.
Yes, our hearts and prayers go out to the victims of this massacre. But that is
not enough. Even the Word says “Faith without works is dead.” It is time for
action.
It is time that the weak, pitiful
leaders elected to serve and protect us be challenged. It is time that our
communities stand up to the gun lobbies and match them dollar-for-dollar in a
campaign to shed light on the true nature of the gun issue in our country. It
is time for politicians to put the good of the citizens they serve above that
of money and power. It is time that conservative politicians, like Rachel in
the bible, say “If I perish, let me perish” by speaking truth to power.
It is unthinkable that one would
trade the safety and security of American citizens going about their daily
tasks of praying at a church, reveling at a concert or studying in a school,
above the Wild West concept that every American should have a gun on his or her
hip.
Recently I watched the “Magnificent Seven.” It was a sprawling epic that glorified the fight of good over evil. It struck me that the only difference between the “good” guys and the evil ones was their cause. In the end, bodies of both the innocent and the guilty were scattered across the town square. The show glorified violence as an answer to injustice and seemed to infer that the carnage was worth it.
Recently I watched the “Magnificent Seven.” It was a sprawling epic that glorified the fight of good over evil. It struck me that the only difference between the “good” guys and the evil ones was their cause. In the end, bodies of both the innocent and the guilty were scattered across the town square. The show glorified violence as an answer to injustice and seemed to infer that the carnage was worth it.
While this story is rooted in our
history as a nation, is that what we want for our future? Do we want to barricade the town square and
have a shooting match with the bad guys? Is it okay to see our streets littered
with the remains of the good and the bad as we seek vigilante justice? Or do we
want to figure out a way to thoughtfully examine our 2nd Amendment
rights in the context of their creation by the Founders?
The British are no longer
standing at our gates with regimens prepared to overrun us. The Native Americans,
who were enemies of our own making, are no longer a threat. We do not have to
call up militias when our sovereignty is threatened…we have the most well
equipped military on the face of this planet. Our cities and towns are protected by
well-armed police forces, and the National Guard stands ready to assist when
called upon.
This nation’s love affair with
guns runs far too deep to imagine that there would ever be a time when guns are
outlawed, but it is insanity to allow the proliferation of military-style
weapons to continue in America. It is time that we dispel the glorified myth of
the “Magnificent Seven” and embrace a common-sense, civilized approach to gun
ownership in this country.
I challenge politicians to have
the strength of courage to refuse the money and tell the truth. I challenge the
public to seek out their legislators and let them know that you will be at the
polls in November and that you will remember their answer to the question, “What
ACTION did you take to end gun violence in America.”
I echo the words of Lori Alhadeff. We can tolerate no more mass
shootings. The time for action is NOW!
