As I’ve written before, I consider myself a pacifist and I want to see much stronger gun control in American because I believe the harder it is for people to get a weapon, the less likely they are to use it.
I truly long for the day when nuclear weapons, assault weapons, semi-automatic guns, muskets, pocket knifes and all other weapons of any sort are made into plowshares.
And I long for Shalom and Pax Dei.
And yet I confess that I understand that even banning all guns of all sort won’t stop all assaults or killings of any other sort. When a person’s heart is set on killing another human being – they’ll find a way.
So with this quandary at our doorstep, how do we as an American culture and society change the hearts and minds of our fellow countrymen where the life of a 1st grader is just as valuable as the life of the President, a movie star, a drug dealer or an imam living in Iran?
How do we change our mindset that murder is not an option – either in jealous rage, depression, governmental retaliation or by lethal injection?
How do we move from a culture of violence (and especially redemptive violence) to a culture of forgiveness and second chances?
A comment via email:
I would like to start with an observation. “….how do we as an American culture and society change the hearts and minds of our fellow countrymen where the life of a 1st grader is just as valuable as the life of the President, a movie star, a drug dealer or an imam living in Iran?”
This sentence assumes that we (society) wants to change, while many members of society do want change it only takes a small percent of those who want violence to destroy “Shalom and Pax Dei.”
Changing people who do want to change requires violence, which goes against exactly what you are trying to accomplish.
From a philosophical point of view, all we need to do is become a society that values life. However even a society that values life must occasionally deal with those who don’t. I believe that forcing someone who has forfeit another life, to forfeit their own life is the greatest value we as society can place on human life.
For life to have any value it must be imparted from a creator–if live is the product of random chance, then violence is just rearranging the molecules.
My response:
If I understand what your saying – that the only way to change those who don’t want to change is through violence and the only way to show we truly value life is by taking the life of those who take another’s life – then I completely disagree with your premise.
I believe the struggle for freedom that Gandhi led in India, the freedom struggles that Nelson Mandela led in South Africa and the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr and others here in the US proves that a society can be changed without violence… Not to mention that the greatest example of sacrificial love the world has ever seen took place on a cross 2000 years ago with a man saying, “Father Forgive Them.”
I’ve tried to change people’s minds by force – I’ve yet to see it work on anyone yet. I may break them into submission for the time being but it also leads to broken relationships and typically more resentment towards me and the cause I was arguing for.
I also believe that taking a life of anyone shows less value of life than saying no matter what you’ve done, we value all life and will let you live and give you the time and chance to change.
I believe that if we truly value the Creator we’ll value his creation as well – every last one.