December 17, 2012
-
WOW
After the weekend of listening and reading about the shooting and the gun dialog of what people in the media and online are saying about these tragedies, I have a lot to say too. Another really important subject is that it is time to take a close look at Mental illness.
I am thinking people with Mental illnesses need to be looked at by American society as not a thing that should be a family only problem but a society problem. Especially when the end results are spilling into our society in a violent way. Why is mental medical care so hard to get with insurances? We as a family had been in counseling about my fathers death for a couple month but then had to stop because the co-pays were outrageous. That is wrong if you ask me. If it was only family counseling I cannot imagine what it is for those who suffer with severe problems.
When my sister had to take her son into a neurologist for his Autism the insurance company denied coverage. They said Autism is a mental illness and shouldn't be looked at by neurology. I was shocked. She was sent by her Doctor. One strong reason for her to move out of this messed up health care system we have here in America.
A friend of ours had to take her child to a neurologist for what her doctors thought was a brain disorder about her muscles in her feet. Then after meeting with the Specialist and tests were done, she was denied coverage and has a huge bill to pay when the findings of all the testings came out negative. This was for which her doctor had sent her to have done in the first place to rule out the possibility. TERRIBLE!
I am not Anti-gun but do want it to be tightly regulated. I think people need more responsibility with their guns. Especially if someone in that family is mentally ill! TO be Honest I wonder why if she knew her son was mentally ill why she thought is it a good idea to Stock Pile GUNS? I think it would be logical not to have them in my humble opinion.
I am having a second look at my kids violent video games too that is for sure. It is hard to weed out when all the other kids in their class are playing all the same things and their father is a fan of them as well. I have no say in what they play since I have been voted out as their mother by their father. BUT! I do have a voice and I talk to them about the violence Ii am seeing in those games.
They have very messed up morals in those games too but that is different subject. I was told I was too prudish. But I wonder how much of this violent behavior played out on TV places bad morality programing into our youngest societies members brain function?
I hear my kids talk like shooting a "Bad Guy" is ok but who is a Bad Guy I ask them? They said, anyone who they see as an enemy. Who is an enemy? Anyone who is against us. See the sick logic! I tell them it is a moral sin to shoot anyone. They are not playing innocent people doing their daily activity but mercenaries and snipers in war. Some games they can punch and kick kids. Yeah I am getting kind of ill just talking about it.
I am not raising solders. Neither one of them can serve because of physical problems. That kind of training should only be for armed forces not the kid in the next room. Or your neighbors kid who has Mental problems to begin with...
When is this foot coming down??? When do we had enough of war and killing?
Ok I said a lot and probably exposed myself to haters but I don't care.
I tell my kids the Law of GOD exceeds mans logic, and he said, THOU SHALL NOT KILL
Even in play we should think about this Godly law. And keep talking about it as a way to train young minds.
Jesus was a man of peace not war. He did not even carry a stick of protection and commanded his DISCIPLES to do the same.
Why I don't own a gun for my protection I have a powerful God on my side. If that fails, so be it. I rather die than kill another living soul.
Comments (25)
My friend, there has never been a time when Americans didn't own guns, in fact there was a time when every American home had at least one gun in it, and yet there was no problem with gun violence. All those guns in all those homes have been a blessing to us on occasion! When asked why Japan didn't even have any plans to invade the United States after the Pearl Harbor attack, Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who had studied at Harvard between the years of 1919-1921, said the following:
"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass."
What needs to change is not the freedom to own firearms. They are no more evil today than they were the day the Japanese ruled out a land invasion because they were present in such great numbers. What needs to change is the mentality, or better said lack thereof, in our sick society.
Tighter controls will not prevent this kind of thing, nor will removing the instrument, in this case a gun. The problem is that people can't control themselves these days, not that the government doesn't control guns. Since childhood for most of us, we've been conditioned to operate on the basis of emotions rather than thought, because that makes us into the out of control consumers an artificially buoyed economy like ours needs to sustain itself. If we were to make purchases based on need rather than want, which is the same as saying with logic rather than feeling, we wouldn't buy 3/4 of the things we do, and neither the economists nor the corporations nor the government want that to happen. Our entire economy would go bust if it did, which just goes to show what an artificially expanded economy it really is and what a perfect trap we've walked into as individuals, a society and a nation, through arrogance and greed.
That's just part of it, but a big part. I got my blog about it out a couple days ago, please feel free to peruse it and see what ya think. Peace
After reading all these news articles on the shooting and articles relating to mental health, it makes me want to move to another country.
The kid who plays video games in this house yells when he loses.
One father I know had a physical fight with his son when he tried to restrict his son's video gaming.
At least the old Pac man video game was sort of vague on the violent side and the first person shooter games reduce the sight of blood but still there is a big sort of jump between actual shooting of a gun and seeing actual animals die.
@AOK4WAY - gun ownership and hunting is sort of generational. My father was a hunter and now most of my brothers and myself are not hunters.
China is not a gun owning civilization and would probably rate as a potential threat to the US but basically what country besides those in civil wars uses guns? You are clinging to a dying legacy basically police should be the only ones with guns, just like horse riders are getting scarce today.
i@AOK4WAY - I am not anti-gun. My father owned guns. I am anti-violence. And I don't know what time in history you speak of where there was no gun violence.
@RulerofMasons - in my neighborhood some kids act out what they learn.
@PPhilip - if you confront a kid who just finished playing a violent game they will fight or argue.
@xdeelynnx - Me too. Most other countries with stricter laws have less shooter violence.
@AOK4WAY - The japanese also were wary of Americans because of what they did to the "Native people with Black hair" like them. American history is totally violent.
Well written. As much as I agree with you I am one of those guys who likes games. Although I only play one shooting game and it has aliens in it. But the mental illness part - you are so right. Nobody wants to mess with mental patients couse they are messy to mess with to begin with. No pun intended.
I don't know if guns and anti-violence will see the end of it, as no one wants to take charge of the situation. It has gone overboard. This is what we heard during the elections from the republican side. About war and the love of guns. My grandfather owned guns. But I hate guns and don't have any, my trust is in the Lord who protect us.
I am disgusted with all the excuses for having guns, and that one time everybody had guns. Yes, cannot anyone see, that it was this 20 year old boy who shot all these children... who was trained by his gun loving mother.
There are indeed many issues at play here. We are not going to end all killing anytime soon. There have always been killings by firearms in this country, criminal in nature, family related, gun accidents, suicide by gun. We do need stricter regulations and we need to reinstate a ban on assault weapons made for military to create as much carnage as possible. They are not intended or needed or used to kill deer and squirrels.
I agree with you on the need for better healthcare options for the mentally ill. There is a problem in that many with mental illness and sociopaths in particular don't believe they have mental problems. Many around them don't see it perhaps because they're too close and since a person hasn't lashed out with disastrous results in his years it's easier to just let it go on unattended. People are busy in their own lives as it is.
I'm not sure about violent video games. A couple of days ago I read video games in Japan are more violent than those kids play in the U.S. but Japan doesn't have the kind of gun problems we have here. It's worth discussing nonetheless.
I've heard different numbers (3,000 is one of the low estimates....12,000, one of the high estimates) but thousands of children are killed by guns each year in the U.S. 36,000 suffer nonfatal gun wounds each year. We cannot accept this as our status quo.
@TheSutraDude - it would be interesting to find out what gun laws are in Japan. thanks!
@angys_coco - I know the whole thing makes me sad and sick.
@KnightInCROATIANarmor - trust me i play some myself. I just think little kids playing teen or mature rated games is sickening. I know plenty of middle school boys who play this since kindergarten. I only recently got voted down about them. I pray for Gods protection on young childrens minds.
Adults can handle it I believe.
@PPhilip - The United States has always had a well armed citizenry, but the epidemic of violence is new. The U.S. did suffer through a Civil War, but I'm pretty sure that ended some time ago if I remember my history correctly. A nation bristling with guns was at peace. And it was safe. People could go out day or night and not be afraid. Obviously, guns weren't causing these kinds of problems for all those years, and they aren't causing them now.
The problem is that people are trained to emote rather than think. Logic didn't pull the trigger in that classrom, emotion did. Feelings were hurt, and someone had to pay, because peoples' feelings come first, and heck, that includes me.
As long as people continue to turn the truth of blessings into the lie of "rights", and as long as people continue to allow the system to brainwash them and their children to value feelings above thought, and as long as people continue to demand the "right" to have filth and gore and violence and hate spewed into their living rooms, these kinds of things will not only continue, they will get worse. And I don't see why anyone should have to have their freedoms, exercised harmlessly all their lives, taken away for that.
@Ikwa - I sure can't argue with logic like that
@AOK4WAY - the interesting thing I am learning is that the more assault guns are in this country, the more of an assault to citizens. The boy I have learned had Aspergers. The real problem was the mother who pulled her son out of public school to homeschool him and taught him to shoot. She is the so called responsible gun owner.
@Ikwa - As I said, people aren't thinking, are they? That's the problem, and you couldn't have illustrated my point better. If he'd have taken a butcher knife and slashed some kids to death, would you be asking why she taught him to cook and hadn't locked away her knives? I kinda doubt it.
What else could we expect from parents who are themselves the product of a corrupt educational system and decades of spiritual poison broadcast in the names of profit and "freedom of speech", another so-called "right"? They're just bigger, older kids who grew up being trained to be feeling machines and "rights" advocates themselves, and now as parents they are the blind leading the blind. They went to school to learn how wrong and ignorant their parents and their values were, and now their children are being taught to set them straight too. Both are falling into the ditch, society is off the rails, and guns didn't cause the problem,
But peace to you, Ikwa
Well tonight I have a large white candle burning in memory, and to support those who died, and those who survived, and those who must live with the loss o their children.
God bless them all and my prayers are with the survivors, those precious angels who I pray will not be sent back to that school but will go to a new building where they can try to feel safe.
We as adults have the ability to voice our fears and take action. Children do not have the living experiences to know how to deal with this and my prayers are with them especially.
Osiyo Usdi Ulv,
I understand your feelings! I had the same problem while raising our grandson with the violent video games. His dad would buy them for him all the time. The only violent video (computer) games I own are Risk, The Civil War, Red Storm games based on Tom Clancy’s books, and empire building games. I love making the south win in the civil war game, which is not an easy thing to do. Mostly I like adventure games of which I can’t install on the newer versions of Windows. Until I get my computer room back I don’t really play many games anymore. I had set up various computers with different Window systems on the so I could play the older games. But you need the newer Window systems just to run the internet, the older systems don’t work anymore for that.
As far as firearms (guns) I do own them. But I tried to teach my grandson that you need to be responsible with owning them. There is a saying that I told him about and it comes from the military. You point to your weapon and then to your crotch and say “This is my weapon, this is my gun. This is for fighting, and this is for fun!” I still don’t see why anybody needs to own an assault weapon. You can’t hunt with them! They are designed for one thing only and that is to kill other humans! The second amendment says “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringe.” What the government was saying is that the States have a right to have a Personal Militia made up of the citizens that live within that State to protect State security, i.e. police and National Guard. It does not really give individuals the right to keep weapons in their own home. But when the U.S. Constitution was written most citizens owned firearms for hunting, the only real way of adding meat to the family table. Most of the farm animals were used for other purposes than providing meat to the table. Today that has changed! Hunting is a sport and not a necessity of life, for most citizens. Some citizens still need to hunt to add to the family table, but they are a minority. But with the price of buying meat today that might change. I remember when you could get three pounds of hamburger for a dollar, now it is about three dollars a pound, and that is cheapest cut meat.
I know we have problems with the medical care in this country, but I don’t think that taxing (fining) a person that has trouble providing basic family needs is the answer. That is the problem I have with the “Obama Care”! It does not hurt the rich, it hurts the poor! If you want socialized medical care, then the government should take over the medical care system, totally! Have our tax dollars pay every aspect of the medical profession with no insurance system being involved ever again. Also, there should be no exceptions on who gets what medical care. The very young and old need the most care! Not the able-body working class, or Congress who has exempt themselves from the “Obama Care” program! The poorest person in an Indigenous Tribe has always been the Chief, because he provided for the tribes well-being and not for his personal gain. A lesson that our government has not learned, yet, and I don‘t think they ever will!
OK, I’ll get of my “Soap Box” now and Wish You and Your Family A Very Merry Christmas with a Capital C!
May The Great Spirit’s Blessings Always Be with You!
Nobody Special _:^) “Robin” “Eyes open”
@AOK4WAY - big diffrence in learning to cook vs shoot targets. Flame-throwers don’t incinerate people, people incinerate people, to paraphrase a favorite gun-lobby aphorism.
@Ikwa - And there's a big difference between shooting tagets and shooting people, just as there is between carving a turkey and stabbing someone to death with a butcher knife. Every tool can be used in more than one way; the manner in which a tool is used depends upon the user's intention.
Why is it so hard to accept that this country has a people problem, a heart problem, a spiritual problem, rather than a gun problem? It was what was in that young man's heart that killed those kids. If not for that, those bullets would have found their way into a target at a shooting range instead of the victims bodies.
That's my focus and my foundation in this discussion. I'm not really all that interested in defending guns, not at all in fact, not any more than I'm interested in defending any other tool - a hammer, a knife, a welding torch. That's all a gun is - a tool. My point is that you can take every gun away from every person who has one, and you'll still have these kinds of things happening. The problem isn't the nature of the weapon used, it's the intention of the heart of the person who perpetrates such an act.
Instead of burying our heads in the sand and hoping that no guns will mean no more murders, which it WILL NOT, we need to address the REAL problem. What kind of foolish society allows their children to absorb the kinds of filth and violence our kids are allowed exposure to, even playtime with it by means of video games, and then expects peaceful children and a peaceful society? People like doing what they're good at, and if little kids get to be good at killing people in video games, it shouldn't come as any surprise that some of those kids will put that skill to work in real life later.
So why the focus on guns? Because there is much more money to be made selling video games and entertainment than guns, and it's all about money, my friend. Think about it - you know that! Yeah, there are some people who go gun crazy and just keep buying and stockpiling them, but they're in the teeny tiny minority. The average gun owner has one or two, and once they have those, they don't buy any more of them. It doesn't work like that with movies and video games, does it? Get one and pretty soon you need another one and another and another ad infinitum. So rather than lose all those profits generated by the poison they put out, they'd rather make guns the scapegoat and make the smaller economic sacrifice. And believe me, if it weren't for the public outcry against the murders and violence, they wouldn't be going after guns either!
Peace to you my friend
@AOK4WAY - do you not see the responsibility a government/society has to protecting its youngest victims? This Kid was mentally insane and his mother refused traditional treatments to do her own thing.
Carving a bird vs a person is a big difference. Teaching people to kill is a sad part of humanity that has always been curbed by not only mans law BUT GODS! If Jesus himself said not to take up even a staff to protect ones self then why do you defend a gun that kills a soul and send them to hell?
I plan to stop defending my point since apparently you don't understand where I am coming from. Biblical teachings are how my parents taught me the way of peace not just words.
@Ikwa - I know what you mean. In my home mom is the boss couse dad isn't around much due to work. But he agrees with any rule mom makes. I remember back when I was a kid I had to eat veggies - I don't have to anymore. I know that is silly but I can't stand veggies.
@Ikwa - What exactly do you think society was doing when it restricted the kinds of speech and images that could legally be made publicly available? What do you think society was doing when it actually educated children instead of indoctrinating and brainwashing them, and teaching them to think and act rationally rather than to emote their way through everything? It was preotecting itself, including it's children, from these kinds of tragedies.
What exactly do you think society is doing now that it is failing to keep these kinds of things from being publicly available? It's selling itself, including its children, down the river and guaranteeing that these kinds of things will happen, guns or no guns. And people who insist that we can solve the problem anywhere but at its root are part of the problem, not the solution, because it isn't gun ownership that is the problem at all. The problem it is hatred, violence and murder, and people who are unable to put a rational thought process into motion before acting because of educational malfeasance by design.
For someone who blows their horn so much about having been taught the way of peace, you sure do have a hostile tongue. But peace to you, Ikwa.