If we care to find answers to some of our problems, it is obvious that the divided politics that the GOP introduced big time after President Obama was elected needs to end. We need discussion on a lot of issues, and we need rational people to find common sense solutions to problems.
The shooting in Orlando last week exemplifies that need more than ever. In essence we are living in a political environment where closed minds, closed hearts equals muted approval. That may seem harsh, but I believe it is very true.
After the shooting, many people started talking about gun control as being the answer. Many people started pointing fingers and saying that gun control won’t stop terrorists. Of course the NRA says we need more guns on the street.
There have been lots of platitudes from both the right and the left towards the victims and their families. However, platitudes are not enough. Frankly, if we are going to come together as a nation and do something to stop terrorism, we need to open our minds and open our hearts.
This closed minds, closed hearts meme is very apparent when you listen to people talk about the attack. Many on the left want to describe it only as a hate crime against the LGBT community. Many on the right only want to describe it as “radical Islamist terrorism” and nothing more. Many GOP candidates won’t even recognize that the bar where the shooting took place was a gay bar.
What we find is a bunch of people talking out of both sides of the mouths. Bill O’Reilly the other night wanted to “slap Rep. Clyburn” because he asked when we were going to do something about gun control. Yet in the same rant, he also admitted that if the government should decide to ban assault rifles, that was okay with him. Even to the point where he admitted that the government has that authority.
I have written about this kind of thing before. Terrorism is terrorism. Having to put labels on the act, other than calling it terrorism is wrong, stupid, and unproductive. As a matter of fact, it plays right into the closed minds, closed hearts principle. See if you only define terrorism as being carried out by those you hate, it is easy to “go after them”. If you define all mass shootings as terrorism, then you may have to “go after” someone you actually agree with.
Some, mostly on the right, want to allow the FBI to conduct warrantless searches on U.S. citizens in order to identify possible terrorists. Forget our right to privacy and the Fourth Amendment. Trump wants to “monitor” mosques in the U.S. He also wants to ban Muslims from immigrating into the country. He further says that Muslims “don’t assimilate” to American life very well. But, that can also be said about Poles, Italians, Germans, and a lot of other ethnicities as well.
Senator Lindsey Graham wants the FBI to “follow suspected terrorists” seemingly forever. He thinks that if the FBI had followed Mateen for years, they would have been able to stop him. Yet, he also believes that if you are on the terrorist watchlist, you should still be able to buy guns, including military style assault rifles.
What happened in Orlando last week was terrorism. What happened in San Bernardino was terrorism. What happened at Sandy Hook was terrorism. What happened in Denver Planned Parenthood was terrorism. What happened in the Colorado movie theater was terrorism. What happened in Charleston, SC was terrorism.
There is one thing that they all had in common. All of the attackers carried guns they “legally” purchased. They used those “legally” purchased weapons to kill and wound hundreds of people. Could they have been stopped? Maybe and maybe not. The real problem with the “lone wolf” terrorist is that you don’t always know who they are until it is too late.
The attack on the LGBT community in Orlando is nothing new. The attack on the school in Sandy Hook is nothing new. Similar attacks we have seen over and over are nothing new. There will be more attacks. There will be more terrorism. Which clearly defines that the inaction of our politicians to find ways to limit these attacks is nothing new, either!
Since the Orlando attack, we have seen thousands of platitudes from people expressing their “sorrow” for the victims. We have heard that the problem isn’t guns it is godlessness. We have seen many “prayers” offered for the victims and their families. We have had countless “moments of silence” for the victims and their families. We have seen people saying that “love conquers all”.
I am going to say this. Love does not conquer all! Love is an emotion and nothing more. It is something we have inside ourselves. It is pure. It is good. But, it is not action! We need to become angry that our fellow citizens are being mowed down by terrorists. We need to become angry that our politicians won’t properly address the issues. We need to demand that action finally takes place.
But, we will never get angry enough to make those demands until we open our minds and our hearts. Hate over the color of one’s skin, hate over the sexual orientation of an individual, or hate over someone’s religion is not opening your mind or your heart.
Unfortunately, our country’s history is rife with discrimination against all sorts of people. We have discriminated against Blacks, Latinos, Irish, Chinese, Japanese, Italians, Germans, Jews, and lots of other ethnic people. Today these same discrimination laws are popping up around the country against the LGBT community. That is not “love”. That will not allow “love to conquer all”. That is hate. Pure and simple.
I believe that first we have to come to the realization that we are all Americans. We are all one nation. We are different. But it is that difference that truly makes us great. We need to come together as a nation and believe that each of us have the same civil rights as everyone else.
Since the attack in Orlando, we have had one Baptist Pastor complain that the “terrorist didn’t finish the job” and kill everyone in the place. We have had New Yorkers come to the defense of two Muslim women who were being verbally assaulted on the subway. We have seen people come to the defense of a woman being abused by a man because she was breastfeeding her baby in a Target store.
If we cannot stop these kinds of behavior, what makes you believe that “love conquers all?” It was “action” of the people on the subway and in the Target store that stopped the bigots. And, we need our Congress to sit down and use “action” to help stem terrorism in our country.
The first thing that needs to be done is to ban all military style assault weapons. They serve no purpose other than to kill. We need to have all of those anti-LGBT laws, under the guise of “religious liberty” repealed. We can no longer tolerate discrimination of anyone in this country.
We need churches to fire any pastor who preaches hate and murder from the pulpit like that idiot in Sacramento did. We need to understand as a nation that we are all in this together. We need to not forget that people from all walks of life and all religions valiantly serve in our Armed Forces.
The United States of America is supposed to be the “land of the free.” That doesn’t mean that freedom is only given to “some”. It means that freedom is given to “all”. It means we each have a right to live our own lives in peace without fear of being assaulted or killed by someone else just because they view us as “different’.
It is time to remove the shackles of our past. Time to root out white supremacists. Time to root out radical Islamists, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, or any other radical religious group. And, yes, radical politicians who use fear and hate to gain power. We need to stop using “labels” to define each other. There is nothing wrong with being a “liberal”. There is nothing wrong with being a “conservative”.
However, when the radicals of each side take control, then we have something wrong. That is when un-American laws are passed. That is when rights are denied. That is when hate grows stronger and we become what we are, a divided nation.
Let’s face the simple fact that the vast majority of Americans are neither radical left or radical right. They sit somewhere in the middle. The majority of Americans favor banning assault rifles. The majority of Americans favor universal background checks. The majority of Americans are against anti-LGBT laws. The majority of Americans favor a woman’s right to choose.
We have had way too many incidents that can only be described as “terrorist attacks” in our country. The problem is that we, the average citizen, have allowed it all to happen because we are too “comfortable” in our private little world to make our politicians wake up and smell the roses.
This being an election year allows us a chance to say enough! It gives us a chance to say to the radical politicians “you do not represent Americans” and vote them out of office. It gives us a chance to prove to the world just how much we actually “love” our fellow citizens. We have the chance to prove that we are the “land of the free” for everyone.
Only, it will take more than words and nice platitudes to make this happen. It will take action by every American to get off your ass and get to the polls on election day and show your “love” for your fellow citizen. Open your minds, open your hearts, and take action. Only with that action can we really say “love conquers all.” Otherwise, nothing will change, again!
