Ban Assault Weapons Now

 Dear Friends

This morning's Riverside Press Enterprise had an editorial. I had to respond to it. How dare President Biden said (a few days ago), "The idea we still allow semi-automatic weapons to be purchased is sick. Just sick. I'm going to try to get rid of assault weapons."

We can argue from now through the next mass shooting, and the next one, and the next mass shooting, as to how to describe weapons that are designed to kill as many people as possible as quickly as possible. We can keep studying the many causes of gun violence including figuring out how to deal with mental health issues. But in the meantime, ban weapons of war now!

Here is my letter:  

Your editorial (“Joe Biden’s fixation with gun bans” Nov. 30th) is tone deaf.

First, his words were not a “fixation”. He was simply using his “bully pulpit”. In this case, he is preaching to a majority of the choir according to most polls. 

Second, it was published exactly two days before the 7th anniversary of the San Bernardino mass shooting and two weeks before the 10^th anniversary of the Sandy Hook mass shooting. How would those, and so many more victims' families, receive your quoting a report which says “assault weapon bans have uncertain effects on mass shootings" and “evidence for this relationship is inconclusive.” 

Third, one of the reasons those of us who support such bans is because not doing it reflects who we are as Americans. Do we really want to be known as the country whose leaders are afraid to do anything meaningful when it comes to gun violence?

Another editorial could be titled “America’s fixation on gun rights”. How many deaths will it take until those, who otherwise would never use these weapons to harm anyone, are willing to sacrifice their “right” to a weapon of war for the common good.

John Saville

Whether or not this letter is published, we all need to keep speaking out for the things we believe in and let our leaders know. What a powerful message Congress could send on December 14th, the 10th anniversary of Sandy Hook, if they at least took a vote to ban assault weapons. And what a great day it will be when it is passed by a new generation of leaders in the future, who figured out that some rights aren't right anymore.

John

 

 

 Dear Friends

This morning's Riverside Press Enterprise had an editorial. I had to respond to it. How dare President Biden said (a few days ago), "The idea we still allow semi-automatic weapons to be purchased is sick. Just sick. I'm going to try to get rid of assault weapons."

We can argue from now through the next mass shooting, and the next one, and the next mass shooting, as to how to describe weapons that are designed to kill as many people as possible as quickly as possible. We can keep studying the many causes of gun violence including figuring out how to deal with mental health issues. But in the meantime, ban weapons of war now!

Here is my letter:  

Your editorial (“Joe Biden’s fixation with gun bans” Nov. 30th) is tone deaf.

First, his words were not a “fixation”. He was simply using his “bully pulpit”. In this case, he is preaching to a majority of the choir according to most polls. 

Second, it was published exactly two weeks before the 10^th anniversary of the Sandy Hook massacre of 26 children and teachers. How would those, and so many more victims' families, receive your quoting a report which says “assault weapon bans have uncertain effects on mass shootings.” and “evidence for this relationship is inconclusive.” 

Third, one of the reasons those of us who support such bans is because not doing it reflects who we are as Americans. Do we really want to be known as the country whose leaders are afraid to do anything meaningful when it comes to gun violence?

Another editorial could be titled “America’s fixation on gun rights”. How many deaths will it take until those, who otherwise would never use these weapons to harm anyone, are willing to sacrifice their “right” to a weapon of war for the common good.

John Saville

Whether or not this letter is published, we all need to keep speaking out for the things we believe in and let our leaders know. What a powerful message Congress could send on December 14th, the 10th anniversary of Sandy Hook, if they at least took a vote to ban assault weapons. And what a great day it will be when it is passed by a new generation of leaders in the future, who figured out that some rights aren't right anymore.

John

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving Exercise

 

Dear Friends

Happy Thanksgiving Day! I just want to share a prayer by Avery Brooke and suggest an exercise to do alone, or with a group, today, or any day.

We have many things to be thankful for God,

and sometimes we remember them and other times we forget.

When something large or small goes wrong, it fills our minds,

and we forget those things for which---when we remember---

we are thankful.

Help us to remember the good things, God.

To name them, to savor them, and be thankful for you. Amen.

So how about using this prayer to take some time and write down the specific things in a word or phrase, that come to mind when we consider the five senses we have been given:

Tastes

Sounds

Smells

Sights

Touches

And finally, as the cartoon which appeared today on my turn a page calendar, quoting Ephesians 1:16 says, today I am giving thanks for you!

John

 

All Leftovers Day

 

Dear Friends

Of course today is All Saints Day. But thanks to some saints, it is also, for me, All Leftovers Day!

The first saints were the kids that didn’t show up at our front door last night and St. Emily who left some beverages we didn’t finish consuming last night. Thus, I began today with a leftover breakfast (see picture above). I am, however, as I rub my stomach, left with a few questions:

Should I be concerned that except for sugar, water, enriched flour, really high fructose corn syrup and Yellow 5 and Red 40, I couldn’t pronounce the other 29 ingredients?

Should I be concerned that the box said “Contains bioengineered food ingredients”?

Should I be concerned that there was a stamp on the box which said “Best used by November 23^rd, 2014”? Just kidding, it was 2015. No, it was 2022.

Now that I have finished my mid-morning alka-seltzer, I am looking  forward to an all leftover lunch and dinner thanks to St. Kathleen! Choices will include her traditional Halloween Chili and Cornbread, her Saturday night oven fried chicken, and Sunday noon’s leftover one half bacon breakfast burrito and leftover one-half BLT and fries plate, ordered by St. Kathleen from Burger Basket, at my request, on our way home from church on Sunday.

Speaking of saints, we are all saints, of course, by virtue of our baptisms, when we were set apart to do our best to follow Christ’s teachings and example. There are so many words from so many hymns I could quote, but I will limit them to these (which I have modified), as a reminder that in spite of the news which over-emphasizes people behaving badly, there are far more who are acting decently, with kindness and great courage, in spite of their challenging circumstances:

They lived not only in ages past, there are hundreds of thousands still

The world is bright with the joyous saints who love to do Jesus’ will

You can meet them in church, or at work or at school,

People doing their best, trying to live by God’s rule

For the saints of God are folk just like me, and I mean to be one too.  

John