Guns, Fashion, Racism and Civil Rights Activism 2.0

It was early Saturday Morning, 
I was doing a quick read of my email before heading out for the day. A comment about my previous post sat for my review. (see below)

It seems that the reader didn't have the same read on what has been transpiring that I did. He didn't see that guns and gun ownership have been part of the problem which is crying out for change in our nation. 
I replied to him the following: 

Timothy, thank you for your thoughtful response.

In a quick Google search this morning with the keywords "cult of gun ownership" Google shot back to be "About 18,900,000 results". In the first page, this essay brings out important issues that more directly explain my shorthanded reference to cult of the gun. The search revealed that this term is so prevalent as to reach around the globe to Australia, with this article popping at #10 on the first page.

I think our shared places of agreement need to be the primary foci for bringing forth a transformation of hearts and minds. I find hope in Jesus Christ as a source of healing and inner peace which can counter the reliance upon guns for security. The Spirit of God is indeed capable of healing and bringing inner peace. But, as the Apostle Paul pointed out, without God, Law is the only way to point out sin.

While violence is a matter of the heart, plots of acting on violent thoughts are often the result. Social responsibility begs that sane people contemplate the insane, and plan appropriately. Gun Ownership is so deeply embedded into our culture that we strike the hot button by even questioning the needs to limit and control the products of manufacturers.

In the same way that the automobile has proper limits of use and ownership, we need to examine gun ownership. Legislation informed by wisdom, and prudence, meeting ethical standards; to do good, do no harm, do justice.

From my perspective, those of us who believe that the way of Jesus is the answer to bringing inner peace have a duty. We must not only always offer true testimony to the work that God has wrought within our own hearts. We have a duty to also not stand by and blithely buy into the message of a powerful minority lobby whose primary source of funding are the manufacturers of the instruments of death. 

I thought, after I wrote that response, "perhaps I'm wrong. Maybe guns and gun ownership aren't a part of the problem." 

But when I started reading through my twitter feed I found an article that confirmed my assertion. There is was, words coming from leadership at Community Coalition assessing the complexity of responses. The generational differences creeping into the staged political action. 

The aim of the Leimert Park protest was to push for federal prosecution of Zimmerman and changes in "stand your ground" laws.
But Harris-Dawson, who's worked with hundreds of youths in the coalition's education and community programs, said that's not the young people's agenda. Their civil rights battle is different from ours.
"We've been successful in beating back blatant racism," said Harris-Dawson, who is 42. "What they're dealing with is much more complicated and harder to get your arms around."
They don't see the Trayvon Martin case as a product of centuries of racial injustice or a cry for policy changes.
"They see it more as a popular culture issue … about fashion and guns and being profiled because you're young."
This case felt personal to them because it mirrors what they feel on the streets — judged because of the way they dress, worried that the guy next to them has a gun.
"They related it to the hoodie, where generations before them would have emphasized the racial aspects," Harris-Dawson said.
They're more concerned with getting guns off the streets than putting Zimmerman on trial again. And they don't need to gather in Leimert Park, when they've got hundreds of like-minded friends as near as the apps on their cellphones.

Whether we like it or not, somehow we have to break down the walls that continue to perpetuate distrust. From my perspective, white and passing for whites have a lot of work ahead in learning how to listen, to dissolve the incredible level of fear and distrust of people whose background is different from our own. 

In my previous post, I offered suggestions and some resources that could be accessed and applied in any community. Urban or rural. I challenged church leaders, which I mean to be both the lay and clergy leaders to begin to prayerfully look within and around themselves.