My next thought had to do with guns. The NRA has succeeded in creating a gun rights culture based on the second amendment that is allowing any angry person to demonstrate their destructive power in ending lives. A desperate and furious 18 year old would not be able to kill so many people if he couldn't legally buy an assault weapon, and he would have a chance to live and find power and even joy in his life. But he can't now, because he is dead too. I could break it down but I know that most people already agree that gun regulation is necessary and in our future. The trick is to get it into the conversation in a non-political way. This isn't about parties or freedom, it is about life. You can't have political parties or freedom if you are dead, or under threat of being killed. In my view the right to live is far more important and takes priority over any construed right to keep and bear arms. Any person who says they believe in a right to life, and then supports easy gun availability and prevents all abortion, is deluded.
In the aftermath of the last school shooting, someone asked me "If you were Queen, how would you fix the gun violence problem"? I had a lot of thoughts, but I started with this: make sure every person is loved and safe while they are growing up. The people who pick up a gun and do harm are the ones who are powerless in the rest of their lives, and angry at the way they've been treated. They've been betrayed by their families and by society. Our culture is especially cruel to young men, mocking them when they cry and telling them it is not OK to ask for help, it is not OK to be human. Well, it is OK. We have to make it OK to be human, and we need to take better care of each other. Without the fires lit by abuse and bullying, people do not turn into monsters. Nobody in their right might would choose such a course.
My next thought had to do with guns. The NRA has succeeded in creating a gun rights culture based on the second amendment that is allowing any angry person to demonstrate their destructive power in ending lives. A desperate and furious 18 year old would not be able to kill so many people if he couldn't legally buy an assault weapon, and he would have a chance to live and find power and even joy in his life. But he can't now, because he is dead too. I could break it down but I know that most people already agree that gun regulation is necessary and in our future. The trick is to get it into the conversation in a non-political way. This isn't about parties or freedom, it is about life. You can't have political parties or freedom if you are dead, or under threat of being killed. In my view the right to live is far more important and takes priority over any construed right to keep and bear arms. Any person who says they believe in a right to life, and then supports easy gun availability and prevents all abortion, is deluded.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorTeresa Gryder ND is a naturopathic physician with a unique perspective on mental health, and a wide range of evidence-based alternative treatments to consider. Originally from Tennessee, she currently practices in Portland, Oregon. Archives
November 2017
Categories
All
|