In the face of our society
I feel like I have blogged about this topic before but could not find it. In light of the recent events across our nation, I feel like I need to break my self imposed silence. I may have a unique perspective... I can come at the issue from 3 points....
Firstly ~ I am married to an officer of the law who straps a badge and gun on every day. He has done this in several federal positions for our entire marriage. I never know what he faces, where he is or in what situation he may find himself. I pray every day his team of people are as aware and humane as he is so that they all may get home to their families at the end of the day without being on the news. These people are tasked by our society to protect our borders, personal belongings, rights, individual freedoms and we all hope they do that with honesty and integrity. Unfortunately, there will be those who seek to step outside or above the law and do terrible things.
Secondly ~ I am a gun owner. A law abiding citizen who legally has a right to own a gun. Yes in fact I have several. Would I use them to defend myself or my family, absolutely. I do not have a concealed carry permit so I do not carry them with me. I may if I had one. I came into gun ownership accidentally. I am not from a family of gun owners. When I married and my husband became an officer of the law it became important to us that I know safety and how to load, unload and fire every weapon we have in our house. I am comfortable and capable of shooting all of them. Then I got one of my own. My child does not have access to them ~ EVER. And yes I can say for 100% certain there will not be an accidental shooting in our house. We are certain with how we store and manage our weapons. Yet there are people who are not as diligent as we are. The fact of the matter is that guns do not shoot people. Bad people shoot people. Tighter gun control laws will not protect any of us from shootings ~ people who want to commit terrible acts will continue to do so and they will find a way either with guns or with something else. Unfortunately, there will be those who seek to step outside or above the law and do terrible things.
Lastly ~ I am the proud and loving mom to a bright, charming and beautiful little boy who has a different color of skin than I have. I have moved this child into a very small community hopeful that people will see past his color and adore him as I do. We adopted him knowing that we would face bigotry, racism and intolerant attitudes and beliefs. We have sheltered and monitored his life so that he is just accepted as he is. We have traveled across our nation with this amazing little boy and have had moments of extreme discomfort because of his skin. As his parents it is our job to teach him to accept humans, all of them. Our child does not make comments about color of people. He accepts differences in humans because I do. Even in intolerable situations, I keep my negative comments and feelings in check so that he can see an accepting way to treat other humans. Unfortunately, there will be those who seek to step outside or above the law and do terrible things.
So about the events in our society. It saddens me that everyone wants to either jump on the "black lives matter" or "police lives matter" bandwagons. Because really LIVES MATTER. It frightens me that there is so much social media about tighter, stricter gun control laws. It won't matter ~ bad people make bad choices. It terrifies me that I have to be worried for my husband and my son for totally different reasons and yet I expect my husband to follow the law and my son to be treated fairly.
Unfortunately our society may be at a weird downward spiral of mistrust and lack of faith in our neighbor. It is our own fault. We wanted to lead lives independent of a community connection and we are. We live in neighborhoods where we don't know our neighbors. We live as single family units away from extended families. We have the power of internet in our hands and while we are connected at all times, we are grossly disconnected to humans. We express distrust and fear about anyone who is different than we are (be it their clothing, language, coloring, financial ability, education or interest). We are fast to make decisions because we don't have time. We don't allow human error, and when there is one we are quick to place blame and judgments. We allow the media to feed us information at amazing speed, before the dust has settled or the facts are in. We are complacent about violence because we see it on the news, our feeds and around us nearly non-stop. And the violence keeps getting bigger and badder.
Three things are certain: I will continue to own a gun. My husband will get up Monday and defend your freedoms. My son will grow up.
Whatever happens tomorrow, I will know I have loved my fellow humans as much as I am capable of at this moment. I have taught my son compassion and kindness in the face of all things. And I can know for certain that something terrible will happen and I will patiently teach my child that terrible people make terrible choices but that we can do our part to start making this world we live in better. That is where I can start.
Firstly ~ I am married to an officer of the law who straps a badge and gun on every day. He has done this in several federal positions for our entire marriage. I never know what he faces, where he is or in what situation he may find himself. I pray every day his team of people are as aware and humane as he is so that they all may get home to their families at the end of the day without being on the news. These people are tasked by our society to protect our borders, personal belongings, rights, individual freedoms and we all hope they do that with honesty and integrity. Unfortunately, there will be those who seek to step outside or above the law and do terrible things.
Secondly ~ I am a gun owner. A law abiding citizen who legally has a right to own a gun. Yes in fact I have several. Would I use them to defend myself or my family, absolutely. I do not have a concealed carry permit so I do not carry them with me. I may if I had one. I came into gun ownership accidentally. I am not from a family of gun owners. When I married and my husband became an officer of the law it became important to us that I know safety and how to load, unload and fire every weapon we have in our house. I am comfortable and capable of shooting all of them. Then I got one of my own. My child does not have access to them ~ EVER. And yes I can say for 100% certain there will not be an accidental shooting in our house. We are certain with how we store and manage our weapons. Yet there are people who are not as diligent as we are. The fact of the matter is that guns do not shoot people. Bad people shoot people. Tighter gun control laws will not protect any of us from shootings ~ people who want to commit terrible acts will continue to do so and they will find a way either with guns or with something else. Unfortunately, there will be those who seek to step outside or above the law and do terrible things.
Lastly ~ I am the proud and loving mom to a bright, charming and beautiful little boy who has a different color of skin than I have. I have moved this child into a very small community hopeful that people will see past his color and adore him as I do. We adopted him knowing that we would face bigotry, racism and intolerant attitudes and beliefs. We have sheltered and monitored his life so that he is just accepted as he is. We have traveled across our nation with this amazing little boy and have had moments of extreme discomfort because of his skin. As his parents it is our job to teach him to accept humans, all of them. Our child does not make comments about color of people. He accepts differences in humans because I do. Even in intolerable situations, I keep my negative comments and feelings in check so that he can see an accepting way to treat other humans. Unfortunately, there will be those who seek to step outside or above the law and do terrible things.
So about the events in our society. It saddens me that everyone wants to either jump on the "black lives matter" or "police lives matter" bandwagons. Because really LIVES MATTER. It frightens me that there is so much social media about tighter, stricter gun control laws. It won't matter ~ bad people make bad choices. It terrifies me that I have to be worried for my husband and my son for totally different reasons and yet I expect my husband to follow the law and my son to be treated fairly.
Unfortunately our society may be at a weird downward spiral of mistrust and lack of faith in our neighbor. It is our own fault. We wanted to lead lives independent of a community connection and we are. We live in neighborhoods where we don't know our neighbors. We live as single family units away from extended families. We have the power of internet in our hands and while we are connected at all times, we are grossly disconnected to humans. We express distrust and fear about anyone who is different than we are (be it their clothing, language, coloring, financial ability, education or interest). We are fast to make decisions because we don't have time. We don't allow human error, and when there is one we are quick to place blame and judgments. We allow the media to feed us information at amazing speed, before the dust has settled or the facts are in. We are complacent about violence because we see it on the news, our feeds and around us nearly non-stop. And the violence keeps getting bigger and badder.
Three things are certain: I will continue to own a gun. My husband will get up Monday and defend your freedoms. My son will grow up.
Whatever happens tomorrow, I will know I have loved my fellow humans as much as I am capable of at this moment. I have taught my son compassion and kindness in the face of all things. And I can know for certain that something terrible will happen and I will patiently teach my child that terrible people make terrible choices but that we can do our part to start making this world we live in better. That is where I can start.
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