After every mass shooting much is said about the bravery, compassion and courage that individuals show in the face of such a horrific event, putting others lives ahead of their own safety. Why do we come together like this in the face of incredible risk to ourselves? Because we are a totality, part of something bigger than what is defined by the end of our skin. We are more than dependent on each other for our very existence. We are that very existence, like cells in the same body.
After one more unbearable mass shooting, prayers are said and we say we are strong and together we will get through it. We don’t even ask how could this happen anymore. The unbearable is becoming bearable, commonplace. But we need to keep asking, why?
As a nation we have been duped by an ideology that is a perversion of reality. A cancer that is eating us alive. Like a cancer, the individual’s ability to have powerful weapons has superseded the health and well being of the community at large. The idea that an individual’s selfishness and greed usurps the communities safety and well-being is a falsehood that we need to understand and root out. This is the disease that has been and is killing our society. The problem stems from a false premise, a belief that we are separate and independent from each other. “I am not him, he is not me.” This causes all kinds of alienation, fear, greed and hatred. This belief is out of balance the same way our body is out of balance when individual cancer cells start destroying the very body that gives them life. Therefore, we have those that believe they have a right to have as many deadly weapons as they want, no matter what is in the best interest of the community and they don’t even realize that by extension it is in their individual interest as well to limit the destructive power at their disposal. I know, there is no changing minds. You have to come to the realization of what is real and what is not on your own. I cannot convince you of anything. However, if you have the ability to use unimaginable power to get your way and decide in your crazy deluded mind to take it out on the “other,” then we must limit your power to do harm.
There are plenty of reasonable solutions on the table. Put public safety ahead of the individual’s ability to do incredible damage to the very community that gives them life. We really are all in this together. Stop the madness!