Feelings on this topic run wild. We invite you to take a deep, full, slow breath. Engage your rational mind. Then read the following and act on your conscience.
We all want to protect children. We want to preserve life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for our families. The question is, what actions are most likely to protect our children, our homes, our freedoms, and our nation? Is it better to have guns around or not? You have probably heard both sides of the issue already. Below are some questions. This is your chance to think clearly, and you will find that in your heart you know the answers.
1) Imagine yourself as a criminal. (Perish the thought!) As such, you don't keep laws. Are you going to obey gun laws and turn in your guns?
2) Imagine yourself as a criminal. (Perish the thought!) As such, you want to steal, rob, or kill. Supposing that two neighboring towns have very different gun laws. In one town, almost everyone has a gun. In the other town, gun laws prevent people from having guns. In which town would you choose to do your dirty business? Would you rather confront armed or unarmed victims? In which town would the children be most safe from your demented plans to kill a bunch of children? (Take another deep breath. That's an emotional question, but it deserves to be asked.)
3) Imagine yourself as a criminal. (Perish the thought!) Would you vote for gun control or not? Why?
4) Imagine yourself as a police officer. You're responsible to keep 10,000 people safe in the area you patrol. Armed with your pistol, nightstick, and taser, you respond to a disturbance down a narrow alley. Somebody opens fire with an illegal machine gun. You duck behind a garbage can and pull out your pistol. You know it will be at least 5 minutes before back up arrives. At this point, what do you hope about citizens in the area and their firearms? Are your hopes more along the lines of "I'm the trained police and I've got the situation covered?" Or more like, "I hope people start shooting this guy from every window in the alley?" Do you feel adequate to keep 10,000 people safe on your own? Do the people bear any responsibility to keep themselves safe?
5) Imagine yourself as a police officer. Someone has opened fire on the local elementary school. You get a call and you're only 3 minutes away. You rush to the scene. How many children could be killed in those three minutes? Do you feel that you have the situation well in hand? Would you hope that many of the teachers, administrators, janitors, and lunch workers are carrying concealed weapons?
6) Imagine yourself as a police officer. Would you vote for gun control or not? Why?
7) Imagine that you are yourself. Easy, right? The power went out in your neighborhood and some people have started looting houses and businesses. Would you feel more reassured and safe with gun laws, knowing that you don't have a gun, and that the looters technically shouldn't have guns, either (assuming that they are law abiding citizens)? Or would you feel more reassured and safe without gun laws, knowing that the looters might have guns, and you also have your guns? Would you feel safer with a sign on your door to deter the looters that says, "Protected by Acme Alarms Inc." or "Protected by Smith and Wesson"? (For those that don't know, Smith and Wesson means guns.)
8) Will school children be safer with gun control or without it?
9) Imagine that you are yourself. Easy, right? Would you vote for gun control or not? Why?
The above questions were chosen because they are examples of things that are easy to imagine in our current day and experience. We are blessed that in recent memory we have not had an invasion on American soil, nor have we had the government try to take away our inalienable rights. However, we have no reason to believe that human nature has evolved so much that war and tyranny are purged from humanity. We hope that these things would never happen in the USA. It's hard to imagine these things. But the 2nd Amendment is like an insurance policy: you hope you don't ever have to use it, but you always want to have it just the same. If our military were ever spread too thin around the world, and a country dared to invade, would they rather invade a country of unarmed people or a country of armed people? If ever we got a faction in the government who wanted to take away our freedoms (perish the thought), would they find it easier to do that if the country were armed or unarmed? How would we fight to get our freedoms back if we didn't have weapons?
Take another deep breath. Keep your rational brain engaged. Then contact your government leaders. Talk to your neighbors and friends. Help people find reason and reality in spite of all the media hype. This insurance policy called the 2nd Amendment is not negotiable. Hold on to it like your life depends on it. It probably does--either yours, your kid's, or your grand kid's. Pass on to the next generation the freedoms that others died to give you.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Long-Term Priority One: Create a Loving, Respectful Society
We invite you to join us in encouraging respectfulness in our nation.
America was founded on the blood of martyrs who gave their all to create
a nation in which people could be free to disagree about religion,
politics, and all manner of ideas. These rights were to be preserved by
putting power into the hands of the people: among others, the power to share dissenting ideas, the powers to elect and depose leaders, and the power
of firearms so that each citizen could prevent any person or government
from trying to deny him or her of inalienable rights. America, from
its roots, has had spirited disagreements. Spirited disagreements allow
all the important information to be viewed, making for a better end
result. And what a great government we have been handed! We must
preserve it and pass it on as a burning torch to the next generation.
As you can see, we at I Protect the USA support the sharing of ideas freely. However, we sense a growing negative spirit, especially in cyberspace. We notice a high rate of name-calling and put-downs. Put-downs go beyond saying, "I disagree with your opinion, and here's my opinion." Put-downs say, "I disrespect you and I attack you verbally." This strategy often inflames the anger of the other person and makes it more difficult to come to a mutual understanding and agreement. This creates a negative war of words and little positive effect. This doesn't help America progress. We suggest the following if you want to create an America with more positive feelings and greater ability to resolve conflict (in order of priority):
1) Love and respect your children, especially focusing on filling them with joy during the first 5 years of life. Children who are consistently treated with love and respect naturally grow up to love and respect others. Notice how you treat them and talk to them. Does it feel positive? Treating children better is the most crucial priority for creating a better world.
2) Help others love their children. Speak kindly to women who breastfeed, to parents who wear their children around and play with them. If you see a parent treating a child unkindly, add positive energy to the situation by saying something like, "You have the most adorable child there!" When they fix you with a stare or angry comment, come back with, "Oh. Today's a tough day for you. I'm sorry if I troubled you. I'll just leave you and your little one alone and be on my way. I hope your day gets better!"
3) Show respect and love for everybody else, in all aspects of life. If somebody cuts you off on the freeway, instead of flashing the bird, try flashing the I Love You sign, and smiling. Try speaking respectfully to your friends and neighbors. Treat your in-laws, your ex, and people that frustrate you with respect. In cyberspace, try speaking with respect about your government leaders, people of other religions and worldviews, and people who disagree with you. Be respectful even when others forget to respect you. Our collective actions create our nation. Act well.
4) Give your time and money to loving, respectful products and activities. Those who make movies, video games, TV shows, etc., make more of whatever sells well. Whatever you choose to buy or watch is your vote of what we should have more of in the world. Vote well. It's the only world we've got.
As you can see, we at I Protect the USA support the sharing of ideas freely. However, we sense a growing negative spirit, especially in cyberspace. We notice a high rate of name-calling and put-downs. Put-downs go beyond saying, "I disagree with your opinion, and here's my opinion." Put-downs say, "I disrespect you and I attack you verbally." This strategy often inflames the anger of the other person and makes it more difficult to come to a mutual understanding and agreement. This creates a negative war of words and little positive effect. This doesn't help America progress. We suggest the following if you want to create an America with more positive feelings and greater ability to resolve conflict (in order of priority):
1) Love and respect your children, especially focusing on filling them with joy during the first 5 years of life. Children who are consistently treated with love and respect naturally grow up to love and respect others. Notice how you treat them and talk to them. Does it feel positive? Treating children better is the most crucial priority for creating a better world.
2) Help others love their children. Speak kindly to women who breastfeed, to parents who wear their children around and play with them. If you see a parent treating a child unkindly, add positive energy to the situation by saying something like, "You have the most adorable child there!" When they fix you with a stare or angry comment, come back with, "Oh. Today's a tough day for you. I'm sorry if I troubled you. I'll just leave you and your little one alone and be on my way. I hope your day gets better!"
3) Show respect and love for everybody else, in all aspects of life. If somebody cuts you off on the freeway, instead of flashing the bird, try flashing the I Love You sign, and smiling. Try speaking respectfully to your friends and neighbors. Treat your in-laws, your ex, and people that frustrate you with respect. In cyberspace, try speaking with respect about your government leaders, people of other religions and worldviews, and people who disagree with you. Be respectful even when others forget to respect you. Our collective actions create our nation. Act well.
4) Give your time and money to loving, respectful products and activities. Those who make movies, video games, TV shows, etc., make more of whatever sells well. Whatever you choose to buy or watch is your vote of what we should have more of in the world. Vote well. It's the only world we've got.
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