Jeff Thomas
New member
[request ... please, let's keep the abortion debate (per se) on the sideline in this thread, as long as possible ... I really don't have strong feelings in that debate, other than to recognize the tragedy on both sides.]
This weekend I saw an old friend and his wife. We meet once each year in Tucson for a day or two of mountain climbing, hiking and such.
Last year I had begun to make my concerns about the RKBA clear to them, as diplomatically as possible. This year I took it a bit further, and nearly lost their friendship ... but for reasons that floored me.
I mentioned the Democrats' strong anti-self defense stands, and my friends replied that Bush / Cheney were too conservative for them. My friend's wife was becoming increasingly upset. They own at least one firearm, but give the subject little thought ... as they say, it's simply 'not their issue'.
Turns out that my friend's wife is strongly 'pro-choice' ... she used to counsel in an abortion clinic, and had received threats from 'pro-life' folks, etc. (I always find those reports quite ironic).
She asked me coldly 'Are they trying to take your guns away?' I responded that 'they' are, and gave various examples. She replied that if Bush / Cheney win, then women across the U.S. will have Big Brother telling them how and when to have babies. And, she said the RKBA is of no importance whatsoever, compared to the abortion debate.
We briefly discussed partial birth abortions (I thought they would certainly reject that abomination), and it became clear that 'pro-choice' people don't want to get near this subject, because they see it as the camel's nose getting into the tent. I found I could empathize with this perspective to some extent, considering the rampant incrementalism in the RKBA arena.
Yesterday I told my friend that it is a shame people can't simply leave each other alone. He agreed. He said that he wouldn't care about whether I had revolvers or machine guns, but he and his wife couldn't abide others dictating their family planning.
I wasn't at all surprised at the passion. I was surprised about the direct effect upon the RKBA, due to the alignments of the Democrats and Republicans.
Abortion is a tragedy, as is child abuse and unloved, unwanted children. Gun violence ... any violence, for that matter, is an equal tragedy. While the world is generally a much better place for our quality of life, there are still too many human tragedies to go around.
The point of all this, from my perspective, in our increasing inability to simply let each other live our lives without interference from others. Unfortunately, it seems there are people in our world who cannot abide any tragedy, and feel compelled to tell us how to live. At a time when we are exhorted to value diversity, instead we have very little left of a 'live and let live' philosophy in America ... if there ever was one.
So, the anti-self defense gun bigots take our guns. The moral custodians of our world want to do the family planning and regulate the drugs we can put into our bodies. The PETA types tell us we're simply 'custodians' for our pets. Gay couples insist that we embrace their lifestyle. And on, and on.
Like you, I suspect, I don't have an answer. But, I will say this ... if we keep forcing our values and beliefs on each other, and inflaming such passions, it will come to a bad end, IMHO. Freedom and personal responsibility combine into a messy philosophy ... always has been, always will be. But frankly, I haven't seen a better one.
Regards from AZ
[This message has been edited by Jeff Thomas (edited August 05, 2000).]
This weekend I saw an old friend and his wife. We meet once each year in Tucson for a day or two of mountain climbing, hiking and such.
Last year I had begun to make my concerns about the RKBA clear to them, as diplomatically as possible. This year I took it a bit further, and nearly lost their friendship ... but for reasons that floored me.
I mentioned the Democrats' strong anti-self defense stands, and my friends replied that Bush / Cheney were too conservative for them. My friend's wife was becoming increasingly upset. They own at least one firearm, but give the subject little thought ... as they say, it's simply 'not their issue'.
Turns out that my friend's wife is strongly 'pro-choice' ... she used to counsel in an abortion clinic, and had received threats from 'pro-life' folks, etc. (I always find those reports quite ironic).
She asked me coldly 'Are they trying to take your guns away?' I responded that 'they' are, and gave various examples. She replied that if Bush / Cheney win, then women across the U.S. will have Big Brother telling them how and when to have babies. And, she said the RKBA is of no importance whatsoever, compared to the abortion debate.
We briefly discussed partial birth abortions (I thought they would certainly reject that abomination), and it became clear that 'pro-choice' people don't want to get near this subject, because they see it as the camel's nose getting into the tent. I found I could empathize with this perspective to some extent, considering the rampant incrementalism in the RKBA arena.
Yesterday I told my friend that it is a shame people can't simply leave each other alone. He agreed. He said that he wouldn't care about whether I had revolvers or machine guns, but he and his wife couldn't abide others dictating their family planning.
I wasn't at all surprised at the passion. I was surprised about the direct effect upon the RKBA, due to the alignments of the Democrats and Republicans.
Abortion is a tragedy, as is child abuse and unloved, unwanted children. Gun violence ... any violence, for that matter, is an equal tragedy. While the world is generally a much better place for our quality of life, there are still too many human tragedies to go around.
The point of all this, from my perspective, in our increasing inability to simply let each other live our lives without interference from others. Unfortunately, it seems there are people in our world who cannot abide any tragedy, and feel compelled to tell us how to live. At a time when we are exhorted to value diversity, instead we have very little left of a 'live and let live' philosophy in America ... if there ever was one.
So, the anti-self defense gun bigots take our guns. The moral custodians of our world want to do the family planning and regulate the drugs we can put into our bodies. The PETA types tell us we're simply 'custodians' for our pets. Gay couples insist that we embrace their lifestyle. And on, and on.
Like you, I suspect, I don't have an answer. But, I will say this ... if we keep forcing our values and beliefs on each other, and inflaming such passions, it will come to a bad end, IMHO. Freedom and personal responsibility combine into a messy philosophy ... always has been, always will be. But frankly, I haven't seen a better one.
Regards from AZ
[This message has been edited by Jeff Thomas (edited August 05, 2000).]
