For most of the week just past, this space has been devoted to the tragedy at Newtown, Conn.
The editorials began with a plea for folks to make decisions based on rational thought and data rather than emotion. They also covered our current gun culture and the role of religion in our society, a heightened issue in the wake of this tragedy.
Today, we conclude with ideas on what to do.
The world is a place where there appears to be an expectation that every problem can be solved. It’s a place where emotion carries the day, not logic and reason and contemplation and deliberation.
We are horrified about the demons that cause troubled souls to commit unspeakable crimes, yet we so cavalierly demonize large segments of the population — “gun nuts,” “commie pacifists,” “right-wing wackos,” “left-wing pinkos.”
And, often, this happens in the name of religion! Oh, we are all so eager to cast ourselves as doing God’s will and cast those who disagree with us as out-of-touch modern-day Pharisees.
Which brings us to our chief recommendations of “what to do” about Newtown and the other violent killings we have seen in recent times.
And the suggestions are these:
Care more. Love more. Be respectful.
If you are sickened by gun violence, get to know a gun owner. Don’t talk about the issues, just listen to their views on why owning a gun is important.
If you are sickened by the separation of church and state, get to know a Christian who supports that view. Don’t talk, just listen to their views.
In fact, listening more should be added to the list.
Also, think more. Not just about what you don’t like and what illicit and emotional reaction. Think about solutions. Think multiple steps down the road of causes and effects. What might be the unintended consequences of actions you are proposing?
Learn more. Have a global philosophy of life, not just issue-by-issue, spur-of-the-moment positions, as if you are a compulsive shopper at a department store.
You want to help the poor? How much are you willing to seize, coercively, from your neighbor, in the form of taxes, to achieve that end? And how do the principles of your faith support not just the ends of helping, but the means of obtaining the resources?
Want to ban gay marriage? If you are going to use the democratic process to achieve that end, what of your own moral positions are you willing to submit to majority vote?
Here’s the truth: There is no gun law; no law regulating video games; no law regarding mental health … there is no government action that will come close to eliminating these types of tragedies. The best we can hope for is to make it a tad more difficult for these events to be carried out.
What will make the most difference is an individual commitment to respect, love and caring. To looking out for the least of these without demonizing others in the process.
What will change our world will be imperceptible steps of kindness and concern by individual people, trying to make their community, country and world a better place.
Margaret Mead said: “Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Amen.
