Land That I Love

in a few weeks, my wife and i will leave on a trip to scandinavia.  i am concerned about what people we encounter will think of people from the united states.  we are living in a time when i can't say that i'm proud to be a citizen of this country.  when we traveled to europe during the time when barack obama was our president, we found that europeans held us in high regard because they had great admiration for president obama.  we heard him quoted in sermons in church services, even when we understand little of the german preacher's other words.  we talked with a store clerk in italy who, upon learning where we were from the united states rather than canada, told us she loved our president and wished that her country had such a leader.  we saw posters in austria that honored president obama.  i don't expect to find that our country, our leader, and, as a result, we as americans will be admired as we were during president obama's tenure.

another concern is the gun culture that seems to have taken over our country.  mass killings are constantly in the news, and the ruling party's solution seems to be more guns in the hands of more people.  i read yesterday that some legislators in south carolina have introduced a bill that would have their state secede if there was any federal attempt to cease guns already in a person's possession.  other states have passed laws that provide for the temporary ceasure of firearms from anyone who has demonstrated a mental illness that might cause that person to act upon violent impulses toward others, and have acted on those laws.  i suppose that is the genesis for the proposed secession bill in south carolina.

i went in a health clinic with a relative recently.  there was a warning posted on the door that firearms were prohibited inside the clinic.  my relative's reaction was that the clinic was preventing law-abiding citizens from defending themselves if a "mad gunman" entered the building and began firing.  i hear of many more deaths from police and other "law-abiding citizens" shooting unarmed people because they were faced with a perceived threat, only to find afterwards that the gun they thought they saw wasn't there than i do of lives being saved because an armed bystander has shot a marauding mass murderer.  certainly mass killings are sometimes brought to an end by bullets fired by law enforcement, but only after a number of innocent people have been killed.  it seems that there would be fewer mass shootings if guns were kept from those who have demonstrated a propensity for violence.  the often-quoted cliché, "guns don't kill people, people do," may be true in a sense, but it's much more difficult to kill someone when you can't fire a gun at them than it is with a gun.

i wonder if the northern europeans we will meet on our trip will think that my wife and i are part of the insane american culture that promotes turning the united states into an armed camp.  i fear for, and am embarrassed by, my country and hope that we won't become so accustomed to mass shootings that we accept them as a fact of american life.  i am astounded at the ridicule and the hateful remarks directed at the young people who are leading the fight for sensible gun laws in this country.  these teens are our best hope for a sane future, and i pray that they will prevail where we adults have failed at reining in the national rifle association and their allies in government.

may we change the direction in which the united states seems to be heading.  may we disparage violence of all kinds rather than living an "eye-for-an-eye" sort of existence.  may we love others no matter the hue of their skin, the language they speak, or their national origin.  may we have reverence for life even when we are afraid.  may we work to create a country that we can love and be proud of because it is a refuge for those who have no other refuge.  shalom.