Let’s Get Serious
I was deeply moved when a choral group from the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Ct. sang “America the Beautiful” prior to the Super Bowl on Sunday.
I personally wish Jenifer Hudson had not joined in the singing and the children would have been allowed to have the spotlight for themselves but I found the performance to be a powerful rendition of the patriotic classic.
The presence of the Sandy Hook children at the Super Bowl, only six weeks after the Newtown tragedy was a powerful reminder of the resiliency of the American people and our willingness to overcome the catastrophes that came our way. The singing children also made the recent political events seem that much more shameful.
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As I have said before in this column I’m not a gun guy. We keep a pistol in our home for protection and I do know how to fire it and maintain it. I’m quite certain I could hit a target as big as someone invading my home but I don’t spend time at the firing range.
I don’t hunt deer, turkeys or doves because I haven’t lost any deer, turkeys or doves. I don’t have any objection to these activities I just have no interest in them other than eating what other folks have shot. I’m not a member of the National Rifle Association.
That said I am frightened by the recent talk about changing our gun laws. Guns are protected by the constitution just as free speech is protected by the constitution and our right to worship as we please is protected by the constitution.
I fear that if the government dilutes the constitutionally protected rights of gun owners then one day the government might find a reason to dilute rights such as free speech and freedom of worship.
As I read the founding documents of our country the government’s duty is to protect our rights not to take them away.
As bothersome as that is I am also disturbed by the political posturing done by our nation’s leaders over this issue. On the one side President Obama had proposed a passel of changes to our gun laws.
These proposals need not be enumerated and constitutional scholars and judges can debate whether they are proper. What I know, even with my limited knowledge of firearms, is that none of these proposals would have prevented what happened that day in Connecticut.
What we simply have here is showmanship and political grandstanding. The President needs to show folks he is doing something in response to Sandy Hook. The whole show reminds me of a dog we had when I was a teenager.
The dog would wait for us to come home and when any of us would pull up in the drive way the dog would pretend to be chasing something away from the house. Nothing was there; it was just a show to make us think he was on the job. The President is doing a great impersonation of that ole dog.
In the interest of fairness I must point out that on the other side of the fence there is a great deal of political showmanship as well. The NRA reports an increase in membership since Sandy Hook. Politicians on the opposite end of the spectrum are also making a great spectacle of opposing the President.
In the end nothing is done to make the world any safer for our children. Our children have become nothing more than pawns in a deadly game of politics. Each side of this debate has used them as props to make political points.
That is what saddens me today. Our country needs to make a statement about the importance of our children. Instead we simply get games and showmanship. May God help us to realize the true importance of our children and may God forgive us if we don’t.