The other day I was looking at the newsfeed
on Facebook when I came across a photo of a FB friend of mine (let’s call him
M.G., not his real initials) posing with an assault rifle in his hands and a
grin on his face. I tend to scroll right
on past all the kooky stuff extolling the virtues of being heavily armed in
this day and age (because “a good guy with a gun” has worked out so well…) and
the increasing likelihood that the government is just moments away from coming
for your guns.
But when I realized that it was M.G. in the
picture, I was taken aback. M.G. is a
former school board colleague, a radio talk show host, and a Christian
minister. Although he and I differ about
as far as we can on most political issues, he is a good person who simply wants
the best for his community. On school
board issues, we often found common ground as we approached it from different
sides of the aisle.
By itself, the photo was the same as everyone
else posing with a weapon they have no need for in everyday life. What was more haunting were the
comments.
“You wear it well, M.G.,” wrote one commenter.
“I have more ammo if you need it, M.G., stay
well supplied,” wrote another.
Perhaps the oddest thread of comments was the
one sparked by this: "I’m thinking there
are no references to this in the Bible!" The
resulting dialogue was a back and forth designed to find the Bible passage that, I
suppose, best supports the need for these weapons.
Of the thirty or so comments, only one (before I posted) takes M.G. to task for the seeming inconsistencies between his messages from the pulpit to what the writer sees as pandering to the positions of the NRA. All the rest are from those who are either very clearly pro-NRA or are simply looking to add their own quips to the commentary.
Here is the message I posted on my friend’s
wall:
No
matter how you feel about the current narrative around the 2nd amendment and
guns, and even if you have no concern at all about the proliferation of a gun
culture that is having an inarguable effect on American society, consider this
question. What effect does one seek by posting a photo like this? To be sure,
the photo has prompted comments that make light of guns and gun violence (and
even the Bible!). Maybe that’s the goal.
However, countless families in our nation have been permanently shattered as a result of having loved ones killed needlessly by guns, people who were guilty of nothing other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time (e.g., twenty 1st graders in Connecticut guilty only of going to school that December day, many of them killed by a weapon not unlike the one in the photo.)
With this photo now in the public eye and as a result of the comments that have followed, I wonder: How easy or hard would it be to look your friends in the eye to defend all of this if you learned that this unimaginable horror had resulted in the death of one of their loved ones? What would you say if they told you that rather than seeing humor in the photo and the comments, they see only reminders of devastation and grief? If this has already happened to those we know do we even think to post a photo like this and kid around about it?
From our work together on the school board, I think my friend M.G. knows I am not a religious man, so he won’t be surprised that the only thing remotely religious that I can think of is this: There but for the grace of God go I.
Nevertheless, it seems apt at the moment.
Until next time...
However, countless families in our nation have been permanently shattered as a result of having loved ones killed needlessly by guns, people who were guilty of nothing other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time (e.g., twenty 1st graders in Connecticut guilty only of going to school that December day, many of them killed by a weapon not unlike the one in the photo.)
With this photo now in the public eye and as a result of the comments that have followed, I wonder: How easy or hard would it be to look your friends in the eye to defend all of this if you learned that this unimaginable horror had resulted in the death of one of their loved ones? What would you say if they told you that rather than seeing humor in the photo and the comments, they see only reminders of devastation and grief? If this has already happened to those we know do we even think to post a photo like this and kid around about it?
From our work together on the school board, I think my friend M.G. knows I am not a religious man, so he won’t be surprised that the only thing remotely religious that I can think of is this: There but for the grace of God go I.
Nevertheless, it seems apt at the moment.
Until next time...
