Aberjhani said, “Democracy is not simply a license to indulge individual whims and proclivities. It is also holding oneself accountable to some reasonable degree for the conditions of peace and chaos that impact the lives of those who inhabit one’s beloved extended community.”
Our democracy has fallen into a numb indifference, categorized by babies dying somehow being the status quo, somehow being alright to tolerate, so long as a weapon remains sacred and untouched. Assault rifles and automatic weapons of all kind have become our holy relic, anointed by the blood of innocent people and supported by our government and our laws. The killing has become tolerable, a price we pay for the comforts of false freedom and fear of our neighbors.
In Parkland, Florida, 17 are dead, more are injured. Some will say that mental health was to blame, others will blame his family and friends. His why is not nearly as important as the how. How he managed to get his hands on an assault rifle matters. Why there were no checks, no laws, no balance, and why a private citizen would even need to buy something so perfectly designed to kill human beings.
Our lawmakers mark each attack as having nothing to do with guns, as having been a fluke by the mentally ill. They’re liars. This has everything to do with a system that eagerly serves those who wish to hate, those who yell out in defense of the second amendment even as they use it mostly to be the terror they so fear. And we let them.
Well, I’m done letting them. I’m begging all of you to vote out the politicians in your area who get support from the NRA. I’m begging you to put pressure, to follow the lead of the Parkland teenagers, who with dignity, bravery, eloquence, and compassion are doing their very best to ensure this never happens again.
I beg you all to stop saying this isn’t about you, and make it about all of us together. We are mourning the loss of 17, of 27, of 58, of far too many. Now is exactly the time to talk about it. This can’t keep happening, and we are morally responsible to do something, to act now, to use our powers of democracy to protect our beloved extended community.
This isn’t a debate. This isn’t some moral dilemma with two complex sides. Either you want people to die or you don’t. I’m on the side of ensuring that no person, no nation, and no community ever has to mourn like this again. Do something. And those of you who willingly take money from the NRA, we’re coming for your jobs. This is a human lives issue, and I refuse to let the apathy take one more person from us.