Gun Violence- I'm Not Settling For A Virgin Sacrifice
We can't continue living like this
From the “Here’s Something You Don’t Hear Every Day” Department:
Erstwhile Conservative gadfly and former Reagan Administration Secretary of Edumication Bill Bennett said on Fox News Channel that we should consider…exorcisms to stop mass shootings?
Yes, those words were uttered by a former senior government official for reasons I suspect only he can fully explain- and I can’t think of a reason I’d want to know those reasons, knowhutimean??
Former Secretary of Education Bill Bennett, during a Fox News appearance on Wednesday, suggested that expelling demons could be a way to cut back on mass shootings.
Bennett, who served as education secretary under President Ronald Reagan, weighed in on the function of “red flag” laws ― like those in Illinois ― that are designed to keep guns out of the hands of people who are deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.
The question comes just days after a mass shooting at a parade in Highland Park, Illinois, left seven people dead and dozens of others wounded….
Bennett, during his Fox News appearance, said parents, schools and police officers are among the people who can “pay more attention” to potential red flags for mass violence. “But, you know, you may need an exorcist, too,” he suggested.
Well, why not? If Republicans won’t consider banning assault rifles, then exorcism makes as much sense as anything else. But why limit the menu to exorcism? Instead, why not sacrifice a virgin or a goat (or a virgin goat) once in a while? Perhaps we could mollify the angry spirits by some other, as yet unknown, sacrifice?
If we’re going to traffic in pointless gestures, we could have an old man asking difficult questions at a bridge over a deep canyon. Answer wrong, and you get sucked into the depths of the canyon. It worked for Monty Python, so why couldn’t it work for reducing gun violence?
I don’t know how well-versed Sec. Bennett is in the fine art of exorcism- I think you need a Catholic priest for such high-level spiritual activity. However, I’d imagine Fox News Channel has the connections and the resources to find a priest willing to conduct an exorcism live on air.
Would it work? Who knows? But think of the ratings it would draw. There’s no way MSNBC or CNN would be able to match the numbers a live, on-air exorcism would generate. It would leave Rachel Maddow grasping at straws.
Bennett added that young men accused of mass shootings have “deeply spiritual problems.”
“It’s a deeply spiritual void, I think, that these young men have in their hearts and their souls, and I think it needs to be addressed,” Bennett said.
Because it’s not about the guns, it’s NEVER about the guns. I’ve got a fever, and the only thing that can help fix it is…wait for it…MORGUNZ!!!!
In all seriousness, however, earnest Sec. Bennett is or isn’t; nothing will change until we address the number of guns in this country and the severity of firepower available to Joe Sixpack. The truth is that NO civilian has cause or reason to possess a weapon of war. Again, I feel like a broken record, but it’s true- AR-15s and AK-47s (and similar weapons) have but one purpose, and that’s to kill human beings. They’re intended to be used in combat, not to be carried into coffee shops for “personal protection”- because coffee shops are threat-laden environments.
Without the restoration of the assault weapons ban- sales, possession, AND ownership- mass shootings will continue as they have for many years. How many innocent civilians must die before Republicans awake from their monstrous indifference toward human life?
Sometimes, when I’m waiting at Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown Portland to take the train home, I wonder what it would take for someone to start shooting. The answer, of course, is not much. It’s an open area, there are always lots of soft targets (people) around, and it’s just a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could happen to any of us at any time, making a mass shooting a matter of winning the worst lottery one could imagine.
It’s the lack of warning, the shock that fails to register immediately, the terror that arrives shortly after, and whatever comes after that. I have no idea, of course; I’ve (thankfully) never experienced a mass shooting. I can’t imagine the terror and helplessness in a moment like that. I hope I never have to find out.
I do know that no amount of exorcisms, virgin sacrifices, or anything else will make a difference without a conversation about the role of guns in American life. It’s not about spiritual and moral decay, video games, pornography, premarital sex, women's rights, diet cola, atheism, or Sharia law.
It’s about guns.
Until we acknowledge that and are prepared to talk about it honestly and without reservation and preconceived notions, innocent people will continue to die needlessly.
This isn’t about taking away anyone’s guns or trampling anyone’s 2nd Amendment rights. (Remember, the 2nd Amendment comprises ALL of its 27 words, not just the final 14.)
No, this is about figuring out how to save the lives of innocent people who shouldn’t have to die because some Americans won’t give up their unhealthy and unnatural attachment to guns. There’s no reason for a civilian to possess a weapon whose only use is the destruction of human life on the battlefield.
Americans can’t continue to live like this- because we’re continuing to die like this.
Well, first off, where will you ever find a virgin anymore (other than at an INCEL gathering)?
Most Republicans don't care about human life, after it leaves the womb. After that, they only care about some fat old rich white businessman making more money. Many here in the US, right and left, worship one God, the God of money. Until this changes, nothing much will change as far as guns, inequality and all the other stuff. In my opinion.