Thursday, December 3, 2015

Yet again ...



355 folks shot dead in 336 days in this country .... and counting.

Think about that for just a moment, will you.

{waiting}

{waiting}
{waiting}

Now, think of the hysterical reaction to 11 reported Ebola cases last year. 

Eleven.
 
Last year.

Zero this year.

And seven of those cases were contracted outside the U.S.

Congress went into action, with travel restrictions, with healthcare policies, with diverting flights and special arrival stations at some of the busiest airports in the country. And by forcing possibly infected people into quarantine.

Yet for 355 deaths ... and counting ... and yet ...

{crickets}
{crickets}
{crickets}

Full disclosure: There is a gun safe in the closet not ten feet from where I am writing this. Members of my family not only own guns but some of them sell guns. Guns for hunting and sport, I hasten to add. So I understand about that.

What I do not understand is that when we are confronted by gun violence on a daily basis,  doing nothing is our default position in this country. That we believe, and elect people who insist, that this is the best we can do. 

Surely it is not.

With all due respect, I do not think saying, "Jesus, make it stop!" is the answer, either. 

It won't hurt. Except that it shifts the responsibility safely off on SomeOne else.

But Jesus didn't cause this problem. We did. 

It is our responsibility to find a way to make it stop.

[Tip of the hat to Bobby's Blog for part of this.]