45 school shootings in America thus far in 2015.
142 since Sandy Hook in December 2012.
It's too easy to say that guns don't kill people; people kill people. Could it be that our culture's obsession with guns and our glorification of violence is killing people? Gun violence is everywhere—movies, TV, the media. Something or someone is getting blown up or away every time you turn around. It's difficult to tell the real from the fictional.
Politicians allow themselves to be bullied by gun lobbyists—and once in office promote themselves through divisive rhetoric about the need to bear arms.
Parents who have lost children to gun violence are left standing at the doors of Congress—the voice of the Movie Moses echoing all around them: "From My Cold Dead Hands." Mass killers continue to get days of media coverage. Yet, the media wasn't allowed to show the thousands of flag-draped caskets of soldiers lost to wars waged more on bravado that truth.
Then there are all those pictures that show hunters smiling over dead animals—celebrating a kill.
And let's not forget the more subtle kind of violence inflicted on children by continuing to glorify football in the light of all the facts about brain injury. Beating the crap out of your opponent on the football field has become so much a part of our culture that we focus on making helmets better instead of stepping in to protect the future brain health of our children.
In light of these attitudes, the so-called mass shootings are not "senseless." It makes tragic but perfect sense that a culture such ours sends a very clear message to the fragile and powerless that guns are a handy answer.
142 since Sandy Hook in December 2012.
It's too easy to say that guns don't kill people; people kill people. Could it be that our culture's obsession with guns and our glorification of violence is killing people? Gun violence is everywhere—movies, TV, the media. Something or someone is getting blown up or away every time you turn around. It's difficult to tell the real from the fictional.
Politicians allow themselves to be bullied by gun lobbyists—and once in office promote themselves through divisive rhetoric about the need to bear arms.
Parents who have lost children to gun violence are left standing at the doors of Congress—the voice of the Movie Moses echoing all around them: "From My Cold Dead Hands." Mass killers continue to get days of media coverage. Yet, the media wasn't allowed to show the thousands of flag-draped caskets of soldiers lost to wars waged more on bravado that truth.
Then there are all those pictures that show hunters smiling over dead animals—celebrating a kill.
And let's not forget the more subtle kind of violence inflicted on children by continuing to glorify football in the light of all the facts about brain injury. Beating the crap out of your opponent on the football field has become so much a part of our culture that we focus on making helmets better instead of stepping in to protect the future brain health of our children.
In light of these attitudes, the so-called mass shootings are not "senseless." It makes tragic but perfect sense that a culture such ours sends a very clear message to the fragile and powerless that guns are a handy answer.
No comments:
Post a Comment