What happened in Newtown, Connecticut is not just a local tragedy, it is a national tragedy. It is a national horror perpetrated by a monster exacerbated by a culture and media that glorifies hate, violence, destruction and death.
The thing we should not be discussing, because it is not relevant, but which we will discuss, because people think it is the focus of this tragedy – is guns.
This terror was committed by an individual who used a gun as a tool. The gun was not the weapon, the person was. And behind him stand still others, using him for their own purposes; to steer national debate and the subsequent opinion in the direction they choose. They think to raise the relative threat which remains the greatest obstacle between liberty and tyranny, between what they want, but do not yet have. But as George W. once – erroneously – stated, “Let us not discuss or entertain conspiracy theories.” Indeed not. Instead let us focus on the level we can understand, a level that we all can comprehend, at a distance we can grasp, with voices that can be heard. Let us talk about guns.
There will be those who ask how could God allow this, why did God permit 20 innocent children to die, how could God permit this to happen? But we have separated ourselves from God. We have turned our back on God and filled our society with games and TV shows filled with hate, violence and death. We have taken God out of our schools and out of our politics and then we wonder what has gone wrong with the way we live, what is wrong with our government? And we wonder why our society is a reflection of what we have intentionally created.
We condemn this senseless act of unspeakable horror and we grieve for the families who have lost a part of themselves. Their hearts are torn and broken; the healing – at best – will be long in coming. We condemn this unmitigated act of violence against innocent children, as well we should, but then we go back to our Wii or Playstation or Xbox and play another game of Saw, Black Ops, Modern Warfare or God of War.
Overseas, U.S. drones target individuals while collateral damage – the deaths of women and children – can number in the dozens. George W.’s mercenaries customarily tortured and executed prisoners and drove down Baghdad streets spraying bullets in every direction and then laughed if someone died as a result of their hail of gunpowder and lead.
In Newtown, Connecticut the weapon was not a gun, the weapon was you.
We all share blame – for allowing the evening news to air violent crime, shootings and murders on a daily basis.
We all share blame – when game designers create games in which the winner is the one who has scored the most kills.
We all share blame – when TV shows and reality shows depict assault, violence and crime.
We all share blame.
A gun is not the weapon, we are, you and I, and our culture of Godlessness, indifference and hate; our culture of drugs, disrespect, war and violence and the loss of dignity of ourselves, of our family, our neighbor and our nation.
We all share blame because we collectively have turned our backs on God - and the culture we have become, the culture we see around us everyday – is the result. A nation that was founded on the Judaeo-Christian tradition is now the world purveyor in disseminating violence, hatred and war.
We say that if only we could limit access to guns, restrict gun ownership or ban guns that this tragedy in Newtown would never have occurred or that it will never happen again. But there are no guns in prison, and people die. There are no guns in China but in Tiananmen Square 7,000 innocent college students were killed. There were no guns in Cambodia and 2 million people died. There are no guns in Scandinavia and people die. Why is it that Switzerland, a nation with an assault rifle in nearly every home, has a crime rate so much lower than the U.S.A? Is it because that in Switzerland there is a different culture or that those who would commit crime know that if they were to barge into a school with a gun, rob a bank or grocery store or rush into someone’s home carrying a gun, they just might get shot?
When we remove our schools, our families, our neighborhoods and our politics from God, we can only replace that void with – what? Someone’s good behavior? We see what that gets us. Any criminal with a gun can kill dozens. In Newtown, Connecticut, 20 innocent lives have been taken by a madman; 20 family BBQs will now be less, 20 family picnics, 20 touchdowns, 20 school plays, 20 Christmas trees, 20 home runs, 20 soccer goals, 20 basketball hoops made, 20 birthdays – lost, all lost. Taken by a maniac who sprays bullets from a gun.
When someone comes at you with a gun the best place to be is somewhere else. But if that’s not possible, the next best option is to run. If you can’t do that, then you must fight. If you do not fight and the other guy means to take your life – you lose. If you decide to fight but the other guy has a gun and you do not, you most likely lose. If you fight and you have a gun and the other guy does too, the statistics show that the odds are considerably in your favor. You will most likely survive.
How many of the 20 innocent lives lost in Newtown, Connecticut would be alive today if the principal, when she ran at the shooter with her defenseless body, instead had a gun?
How many of the 20 innocent lives lost in Newtown, Connecticut would be alive today if the school psychologist, when she heard the shooting and came running out of her office, instead of running defenseless, what if she had a gun?
What if any of the teachers who shielded their students with their bodies had a gun? How many of Newtown’s children would be alive today?
A school administrator said she heard the bang, bang, bang of the shots, but she hid under her desk, unable to do anything – because she had no gun. How many of the 20 innocent lives in Newtown, Connecticut would be alive today if you and I had allowed her to have a gun? How many?
The meaning of this tragic event is clear for those of us who are willing to face the truth honestly. If the teachers had guns, those students would be alive today. We must not ban guns, we must not restrict guns, we must not limit guns, we must train how to use them.
When we ask the question of what to do to prevent tragedies of this type in the future, the first step is to do exactly as the School Board of Newtown, Connecticut has done. Train. Implement security measures and train in those measures intensely - and frequently. These measures likely saved many more lives at Sandy Hook Elementary School. But that doesn’t stop a madman from crashing through a door, that doesn’t stop someone from wearing Kevlar, that doesn’t stop someone intent on murder from carrying an arm full of guns. Nor will any law or prohibition against guns.
When a gunman walks up to a school full of innocent children, what is more likely to make him go away; a sign that reads “All weapons prohibited on school grounds” or a sign that reads “Staff heavily armed and trained. Any attempt to harm children will be met with deadly force”?
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