Let your light shine in spite of gun violence

We’re approaching the one year anniversary.  The day our nation came to a screeching halt and every parent gave extra hugs and bed time cuddles.  The day 26 precious lives were taken at Sandy Hook Elementary and we started a revised definition of gun violence in America.

Over the past year our lives have moved on.  Last December was a really tough time.  My optimism was put to the test but over time my hope and faith in the goodness of people rose back up to its normal levels.  As a nation we were able to pick ourselves back up and continue with life.  We hugged and cuddled our kids a little more and then they drove us crazy like normal.  Normal; life went back to normal.  And when it wasn’t normal we figured out a way to make it right.

This week I read this post about a group of open carry supporters “peaceably” protesting a small group of women who were meeting to discuss gun policy.  The women were members of a group called Moms Demand Action.  Moms Demand Action was formed after Sandy Hook in an effort to find ways to keep guns out of the hands of the wrong people.  They don’t oppose gun ownership or the right to bear arms.  They just want to make sure that responsible adults are gun owners and use their guns responsibly.  Radical, right?

After I finished reading it my faith in humanity dropped several notches.  I felt sick to my stomach reading through the threats and comments that have been aimed at Moms Demand Action members and founder, Shannon Watts.  Is this were we are headed?  Do we just shrug our shoulders at this type of behavior online and off?  If so, we have a serious leg up on achieving idiocracy.  You may say that the people who spew such hate and filth are the minority.  Maybe so, but they are the loudest and you know what they say about the squeaky wheel.

I’m curious to know if the men who “peaceably” assembled, armed to the teeth, were in church the Sunday before.  They could have been sitting a few pews down from these women for all they know.  I wonder if they people who write threatening and hate filled comments on the Moms Demand Action website and facebook page label themselves as Christians.  If they do then that is all it is, a label.  This behavior is the furthest thing I can think of from the example Christ set for us and wants us to live by.

Since Sandy Hook, CDC estimates 31,075 gun deaths in America.  That number is too high.  Those were preventable deaths.  Moms Demand Action was formed, not to take guns away from owners but rather to find sensible, rational solutions to this tragedy that our nation doesn’t seem to give a flip about.  I honestly believe that there is absolutely nothing in the world anyone could say to those protesters or people who threaten those seeking change.  Their ears are closed to anything that contradicts their warped view of society and reality.  The concept of working for the greater good, selflessness and loving their neighbor as well as their enemy is lost on them.  I bet that they think the statement “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth” is about the dumbest verse in the bible.  Right behind turn the other cheek.

It’s pointless to try and talk to someone who won’t hold a civil debate but you know who is listening?  Politicians.  The individuals at the state and national level whom we entrust to do the right thing for the greater good listen.  They are interested to who is making the most noise because their end game is reelection.  For the love of public safety email your Senator and Representative.  Don’t post on their Facebook pages.  The haters troll those places and you will experience their wrath.  Trust me, I know.

I wanted to title this post If you don’t have anything nice to say then shut the hell up.  That wouldn’t be very nice of me, now would it.  Violence does not have to be the norm and statistics don’t have to keep rising.  Darkness is just the absence of light.  While my faith in humanity may be tested, I know in my heart that there are more of us out there who chose light and love.  We just need to let that light shine.