Very thoughtfully argued, Corbin. I agree with you. Even as I fear the tyranny of the government, I understand, as do you, the futility of a gun. Action, as opposed to simple faith (or even resignation) is indeed required, by implementing those other Amendments, which is the soundest plan for defeating fascism. Violence quickly declares a victor, and Americans love a shootout. It's endemic to our national identity. But peaceful civil disobedience and thoughtful defense of our other liberties may be our only slow path out of the current darkness. There's no silver bullet.
Gentlepersons, make no mistake about it: Donald Trump does not intend to relinquish power peacefully, or at all, when his term ends. We are at this very moment involved in a civil war. One must look to the intent and the conduct of the one wielding the most power to determine that status of the moment. The question for us is: What do we do, starting right now? We are in the proverbial kettle of water and the temperature of the water is rising. It's lukewarm right now, but it will get hotter and hotter.
I don't know that I can agree with you, Linda. If failure is defined as becoming president of the U.S. a second time, we need to be very much concerned with his failures.
I enjoy your writing style and personal stories. It brings home political economics, true kitchen table discourse.
Your reasoning in this one is outstanding. A strong contrast with the tactics guys like Charlie used in their antagonism sessions on campuses and interviews.
Lame-ass weak white men love their guns because they are consumed with fear. Since 1776 they have owned and operated every aspect of our society, but now that their power and privilege are fading they are having a meltdown, thus guns.
I would have put a "Like" on this comment, except for the racism. Too bad it didn't read "weak ass, frightened people" Ain't got nothing to do with skin color and that is a FACT.
You wrote: Jesus's call to "turn the other cheek" wasn't a call to be a doormat; it was a radical strategy of nonviolent resistance, a way to assert one's humanity against an oppressor without mirroring their violence. We've traded that for a faith that justifies building castles with moats and defensive turrets.
So true! On 9/11, at a meeting of the Newsday editorial board to discuss how we should respond, my boss said, “This is no time to turn the other cheek.” So I felt compelled to write a column quoting Walter Wink’s exegesis on that line from Jesus. Wink wrote: “Jesus abhors both passivity and violence as responses to evil.” Jesus wanted us to challenge the oppressor’s injustice cleverly. If the tormentor’s slap to your face was aimed to humiliate, you turn the other cheek to make a point: “Your first blow failed to achieve its intended effect. I deny you the power to humiliate me.”
Let's be real. Bombs, aircraft, tanks, etc. is not what we're talking about. If we could further restrict private ownership of weapons BB guns that would be a positive step. The Black Panther Party defended themselves in a shootout with Oakland police and survived. Yes, they went to jail, and yes they faced relentless persecution and government sanctioned assassinations and disruption (COINTELPRO). As a reaction to them carrying guns into the CA capitol, perhaps the only gun control passed by Republicans was enacted as a direct result.
Excellent feature and food for thought. The question comes down to this, for me personally...Am I afraid of others and would a gun solve this issue? I believe that is a NO on gun ownership on both counts. No doubt safe communities are a better answer for life, health and children and adults not fearful of each other. Unless you are hunting something ( hopefully not another human) guns DON'T WORK for the safety issue. Don't want them and don't need them, especially to be safe. Don't think anyone else does either, except in rare occasions. A bear is sick and comes into town and starts attaching childen would be one scenario ( highly unlikely to be a bear's choice of action) or hunters go out in hunting season to help reduce the excessive numbers of deer that are eating through a nearby forest, then starving to death. Shooting them is kinder than them starving to death. Getting rid of bears or deer or people, would help, too. Maybe global warming will help with all three. Guns will not, as Israel is discovering in Gaza.
Well said. Unfortunately, you cannot whip out an amendment when a person unjustly attacks you. Political assassination is embraced by our society…look at how we glorify and justify murder of our “enemies” and call it extrajudicial executions or the war on terror or the war on drugs or the war on crime…who knows how it will be framed and justified tomorrow. It's only a horrible tragedy when the guns hits one of your ideological kin.
I fear the tyranny of white supremacy most of all, then secondarily the government acting in support of white supremacy. That fear is well justified. Any honest appraisal of American history as well as current events reveals this was and continues to be a real threat to Black and minorities lives in America. From slaver owners and their slave catchers, to the KKK and other past and current gangs like the Proud Boys, to Hoover's COINTELPRO, and local police forces who openly practice abusive and discriminatory practices. It would be foolish for Black people to disarm themselves when governments deliberately fail to protect us. No one should passively walk into confinement and allow themselves to be maimed and murdered.
I DO NOT advocate nor practice carrying a gun. That would be an open invitation for a policeman to shoot me, because they FEAR anyone equally or unequally armed or resistant to their authority, and are legally justified and societally encouraged to use lethal force under the guise of that FEAR… especially if the person is Black.
I DO advocate knowing how to shoot a gun if necessary to protect a life, even as I am painfully aware that I am totally vulnerable to what I can’t see coming at me and only partially protected if I do. Throughout human history, suppressed populations wrapped their weapons in oilcloth and buried them into hidden caches just in case things got out of hand. It is what my ancestor did post-reconstruction, because amendments and laws didn't work then and they are not working now. Awareness, protective diligence, and the modern day version of a hidden weapon cache is a reasonable response.
As the saying goes, I'll throw my gun away when everyone else does.
Great writing on this issue. Thank you. I am worried about the huge, and growing, ICE military, and what those people will do when laid off by the next liberal administration, if there is one. They seem mostly to be already radicalized troops with lots of weapons.
Bravo. Brave you, precision for telling the plain truth and understanding the statistics which tell a truth beyond emotional rhetoric. A majority of our population is ignorant about numbers, statistics, trends and therefore cannot make "ratio"nal decisions. Yikes! It is a failure of our education system, which I am beginning to believe is designed to dumb down America to leave it defenseless to fanatical emotional appeals. Yikes! Loaning my life energy to repurposing education. We don't need to prepare people for jobs in the future, we need caring, conscious compassionate, people able to ask useful questions. and relate to numbers as astute evidence for wise decisions.
The NRA has done a good job in convincing people they need guns. Did gun manufacturers push their agenda for profit? It is going to be nearly impossible to reverse their message. Especially since there is no profit in it.
It seems that the guns most criminals get are stolen. If there are no guns to steal, then there's less guns for the criminals to hold of. I'm sure they'd still be able to get some, but it will be harder and far more expensive. Right now, it's so easy, a child can do it. Steal dad's gun and sell it to a guy whose office is his car trunk. Boom! Beer money.
Very thoughtfully argued, Corbin. I agree with you. Even as I fear the tyranny of the government, I understand, as do you, the futility of a gun. Action, as opposed to simple faith (or even resignation) is indeed required, by implementing those other Amendments, which is the soundest plan for defeating fascism. Violence quickly declares a victor, and Americans love a shootout. It's endemic to our national identity. But peaceful civil disobedience and thoughtful defense of our other liberties may be our only slow path out of the current darkness. There's no silver bullet.
Gentlepersons, make no mistake about it: Donald Trump does not intend to relinquish power peacefully, or at all, when his term ends. We are at this very moment involved in a civil war. One must look to the intent and the conduct of the one wielding the most power to determine that status of the moment. The question for us is: What do we do, starting right now? We are in the proverbial kettle of water and the temperature of the water is rising. It's lukewarm right now, but it will get hotter and hotter.
Let's just hope that he isn't any better at staying in power past his sell-by date than he is at anything else. What he's best at is failure.
Give credit where credit is due: Trump read his base perfectly- white, racist Christian nationalists.
And cheating.
I don't know that I can agree with you, Linda. If failure is defined as becoming president of the U.S. a second time, we need to be very much concerned with his failures.
Besides failure, his other talent is lying. That's how he "won".
and cheating.
Hello Richard... Pray For Divine Intervention...
I enjoy your writing style and personal stories. It brings home political economics, true kitchen table discourse.
Your reasoning in this one is outstanding. A strong contrast with the tactics guys like Charlie used in their antagonism sessions on campuses and interviews.
Lame-ass weak white men love their guns because they are consumed with fear. Since 1776 they have owned and operated every aspect of our society, but now that their power and privilege are fading they are having a meltdown, thus guns.
I would have put a "Like" on this comment, except for the racism. Too bad it didn't read "weak ass, frightened people" Ain't got nothing to do with skin color and that is a FACT.
...except the "owned and operated every aspect of our society" part.
You wrote: Jesus's call to "turn the other cheek" wasn't a call to be a doormat; it was a radical strategy of nonviolent resistance, a way to assert one's humanity against an oppressor without mirroring their violence. We've traded that for a faith that justifies building castles with moats and defensive turrets.
So true! On 9/11, at a meeting of the Newsday editorial board to discuss how we should respond, my boss said, “This is no time to turn the other cheek.” So I felt compelled to write a column quoting Walter Wink’s exegesis on that line from Jesus. Wink wrote: “Jesus abhors both passivity and violence as responses to evil.” Jesus wanted us to challenge the oppressor’s injustice cleverly. If the tormentor’s slap to your face was aimed to humiliate, you turn the other cheek to make a point: “Your first blow failed to achieve its intended effect. I deny you the power to humiliate me.”
Very well said. I might add that there's no place for toxic ego while bending the arc.
Good piece! Thanks for taking time to write it.
Sharing your thoughtful article with my 16 year old grandson. He doesn’t own a gun,but would probably like to.
I’ve never believed that by having a gun, you could protect yourself from the government. you would need the right to own nuclear weapon.😂
Let's be real. Bombs, aircraft, tanks, etc. is not what we're talking about. If we could further restrict private ownership of weapons BB guns that would be a positive step. The Black Panther Party defended themselves in a shootout with Oakland police and survived. Yes, they went to jail, and yes they faced relentless persecution and government sanctioned assassinations and disruption (COINTELPRO). As a reaction to them carrying guns into the CA capitol, perhaps the only gun control passed by Republicans was enacted as a direct result.
Excellent feature and food for thought. The question comes down to this, for me personally...Am I afraid of others and would a gun solve this issue? I believe that is a NO on gun ownership on both counts. No doubt safe communities are a better answer for life, health and children and adults not fearful of each other. Unless you are hunting something ( hopefully not another human) guns DON'T WORK for the safety issue. Don't want them and don't need them, especially to be safe. Don't think anyone else does either, except in rare occasions. A bear is sick and comes into town and starts attaching childen would be one scenario ( highly unlikely to be a bear's choice of action) or hunters go out in hunting season to help reduce the excessive numbers of deer that are eating through a nearby forest, then starving to death. Shooting them is kinder than them starving to death. Getting rid of bears or deer or people, would help, too. Maybe global warming will help with all three. Guns will not, as Israel is discovering in Gaza.
This is so well put and so full of useful facts, I’m going to save it because I’m sure I’ll be referencing it quite a bit.
Well said. Unfortunately, you cannot whip out an amendment when a person unjustly attacks you. Political assassination is embraced by our society…look at how we glorify and justify murder of our “enemies” and call it extrajudicial executions or the war on terror or the war on drugs or the war on crime…who knows how it will be framed and justified tomorrow. It's only a horrible tragedy when the guns hits one of your ideological kin.
I fear the tyranny of white supremacy most of all, then secondarily the government acting in support of white supremacy. That fear is well justified. Any honest appraisal of American history as well as current events reveals this was and continues to be a real threat to Black and minorities lives in America. From slaver owners and their slave catchers, to the KKK and other past and current gangs like the Proud Boys, to Hoover's COINTELPRO, and local police forces who openly practice abusive and discriminatory practices. It would be foolish for Black people to disarm themselves when governments deliberately fail to protect us. No one should passively walk into confinement and allow themselves to be maimed and murdered.
I DO NOT advocate nor practice carrying a gun. That would be an open invitation for a policeman to shoot me, because they FEAR anyone equally or unequally armed or resistant to their authority, and are legally justified and societally encouraged to use lethal force under the guise of that FEAR… especially if the person is Black.
I DO advocate knowing how to shoot a gun if necessary to protect a life, even as I am painfully aware that I am totally vulnerable to what I can’t see coming at me and only partially protected if I do. Throughout human history, suppressed populations wrapped their weapons in oilcloth and buried them into hidden caches just in case things got out of hand. It is what my ancestor did post-reconstruction, because amendments and laws didn't work then and they are not working now. Awareness, protective diligence, and the modern day version of a hidden weapon cache is a reasonable response.
As the saying goes, I'll throw my gun away when everyone else does.
Amen!
Great writing on this issue. Thank you. I am worried about the huge, and growing, ICE military, and what those people will do when laid off by the next liberal administration, if there is one. They seem mostly to be already radicalized troops with lots of weapons.
Bravo. Brave you, precision for telling the plain truth and understanding the statistics which tell a truth beyond emotional rhetoric. A majority of our population is ignorant about numbers, statistics, trends and therefore cannot make "ratio"nal decisions. Yikes! It is a failure of our education system, which I am beginning to believe is designed to dumb down America to leave it defenseless to fanatical emotional appeals. Yikes! Loaning my life energy to repurposing education. We don't need to prepare people for jobs in the future, we need caring, conscious compassionate, people able to ask useful questions. and relate to numbers as astute evidence for wise decisions.
It's time for the Charlie Kirk Gun Reform Act. Sign https://resist.bot/petitions/PDRJDG
The NRA has done a good job in convincing people they need guns. Did gun manufacturers push their agenda for profit? It is going to be nearly impossible to reverse their message. Especially since there is no profit in it.
It seems that the guns most criminals get are stolen. If there are no guns to steal, then there's less guns for the criminals to hold of. I'm sure they'd still be able to get some, but it will be harder and far more expensive. Right now, it's so easy, a child can do it. Steal dad's gun and sell it to a guy whose office is his car trunk. Boom! Beer money.