from Robert Jamieson of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer...
Don't blame the rave scene for the Seattle's worst mass murder in more than two decades.
Blame the guns -- and a culture that celebrates firepower.
That's right, ladies and gentlemen, this man is saying that you should blame the inanimate objects for the bad things committed with them, not the warped culture of what has come to be known as the rave, a wild party in which wild lighting and techno dance music are fused with all sorts of illegal drug use -- LSD, Ecstasy, GHB (also known as "the date-rape drug"), cocaine, and methamphetamines. I suppose we shouldn't expect much better, but still, it's quite maddening. Culture that celebrates firepower? What kind of blue-state horseshit IS that? If there's any culture that "celebrates firepower," it would much more likely be whatever you'd call the culture that drug-addled, brain-fried ex-ravers belong to. I would look at a raver much more suspiciously than I would any member of the NRA or any other pro-gun organization or person, because the without exception, every gun enthusiast I have ever come across has the utmost respect for human life and the power of a firearm and would never use it on anyone unless their lives or well-being were being threatened. How dare these elitist ivory-tower jackasses implicitly point the finger at those of us who own guns and view gun ownership as a sacred, inalienable right and say it's OUR fault that bad people do bad things with guns.
The uncomfortable truth is, the right to bear arms has become a right for lunatics to get tools of lethal efficiency and shoot up people.
No, Mr. Jamieson, the right to bear arms doesn't include any kind of "right" to go shooting at people who don't threaten you. So let's just go ahead and burn that straw man right here and now. And the NRA and every other organization that you so unfairly paint with your broad brush would tell you as much. The uncomfortable truth is that we as a society are now paying the price for the wrongheaded policies of the would-be gun-grabbers driving home the message whenever they can that children must be kept away from guns at all costs. It's been said before, but it surely deserves to be said again -- there are many lessons, valuable lessons, to be taught with the bearing of arms, and the sanctity of life is one of them, as it's hard not to respect that when you have something in your hands that enables you to so easily extinguish it. God only knows what prompted this mutant to do what he did, but maybe, just maybe, if when he was little, his dad or another trusted figure in his life had taken him out in the backyard to shoot tin cans off the fencepost with a .22, and gone from there, maybe he wouldn't have gotten so far off the path that he'd so easily pick up a gun and shoot at his fellow man. There's a hell of a lot to blame to go around here, no doubt...but a "culture of firepower" is a scapegoat, a figment of the paranoia-gripped gun-fearing wuss's imagination.
The Capitol Hill slayings present an opportunity for people to talk about how our nation is overrun with guns, including high-caliber assault rifles and semiautomatics.
No. The Capitol Hill slayings present an opportunity for us to talk about the fact that we as a society have gotten far, far off the beaten path trod by our forefathers. There is much I could say, but Darrell Scott, the father of Rachel Joy Scott, one of the 19 students murdered at Columbine High School, said it so much better than I ever could...
"In the days that followed the Columbine tragedy, I was amazed at how quickly fingers began to be pointed at groups such as the NRA. I am not a member of the NRA. I am not a hunter. I do not even own a gun. I am not here to represent or defend the NRA - because I don't believe that they are responsible for my daughter's death. Therefore I do not believe that they need to be defended. If I believed they had anything to do with Rachel's murder I would be their strongest opponent.
"I am here today to declare that Columbine was not just a tragedy-it was a spiritual event that should be forcing us to look at where the real blame lies! Much of the blame lies here in this room. Much of the blame lies behind the pointing fingers of the accusers themselves. "I wrote a poem just four nights ago that expresses my feelings best. This was written way before I knew I would be speaking here today:
Your laws ignore our deepest needs, Your words are empty air. You've stripped away our heritage, You've outlawed simple prayer. Now gunshots fill our classrooms, And precious children die. You seek for answers everywhere, And ask the question "Why?" You regulate restrictive laws, Through legislative creed. And yet you fail to understand, That God is what we need!
"Men and women are three-part beings. We all consist of body, soul, and spirit. When we refuse to acknowledge a third part of our make-up, we create a void that allows evil, prejudice, and hatred to rush in and reek havoc. Spiritual presences were present within our educational systems for most of our nation's history. Many of our major colleges began as theological seminaries. This is a historical fact. What has happened to us as a nation? We have refused to honor God, and in so doing, we open the doors to hatred and violence. And when something as terrible as Columbine's tragedy occurs - politicians immediately look for a scapegoat such as the NRA. They immediately seek to pass more restrictive laws that contribute to erode away our personal and private liberties. We do not need more restrictive laws. "Eric and Dylan would not have been stopped by metal detectors. No amount of gun laws can stop someone who spends months planning this type of massacre. The real villain lies within our own hearts. Political posturing and restrictive legislation are not the answers. The young people of our nation hold the key. There is a spiritual awakening taking place that will not be squelched! We do not need more religion. We do not need more gaudy television evangelists spewing out verbal religious garbage. We do not need more million dollar church buildings built while people with basic needs are being ignored. We do need a change of heart and a humble acknowledgment that this nation was founded on the principle of simple trust in God!
Amen, Mr. Scott. Amen.
Leave me and my fellow gun owners and our culture alone, Mr. Jamieson. It's your right to mouth off in your newspaper about things you haven't a clue about, but as you have such a large audience, it would behoove you to learn more about that culture. What is it? It's Kim du Toit's "culture of liberty and self-reliance." (thank you, Kevin Baker.) It's a culture that, contrary to your paranoid delusions, bears and nurtures a deep respect for life, both ours and our fellow man's -- which is why many of us pack that 12-gauge with the pistol-grip in the closet in case some mutant, who would so cavalierly extinguish human life, comes calling at 2 in the morning. It's a culture of which I am proud and deeply honored to be a part of. I hate that you don't understand it. I do so wish you would make a better effort at it. Both you and your readers would be much better off.
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