Guns and Double Standards<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After Las Vegas, I certainly didn\u2019t think it would be this soon we would see another event like it--like the one in Sutherland Springs Texas.\u00a0 Did I think\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/11\/08\/guns-and-double-standards\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Guns and Double Standards\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After Las Vegas, I certainly didn\u2019t think it would be this soon we would see another event like it--like the one in Sutherland Springs Texas.\u00a0 Did I think\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/11\/08\/guns-and-double-standards\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Divergence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-11-08T20:18:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darrell Lackey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@darrelllackey1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darrell Lackey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/11\/08\/guns-and-double-standards\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/11\/08\/guns-and-double-standards\/\",\"name\":\"Guns and Double Standards\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-11-08T20:18:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-11-08T20:18:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#\/schema\/person\/d88a32b8d4b5f40fbd6ccbfce4e0f813\"},\"description\":\"After Las Vegas, I certainly didn\u2019t think it would be this soon we would see another event like it--like the one in Sutherland Springs Texas.\u00a0 Did I think\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/11\/08\/guns-and-double-standards\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/11\/08\/guns-and-double-standards\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/11\/08\/guns-and-double-standards\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Guns and Double Standards\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/\",\"name\":\"Divergence\",\"description\":\"Commentary Regarding Fundamentalism - Evangelicalism\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#\/schema\/person\/d88a32b8d4b5f40fbd6ccbfce4e0f813\",\"name\":\"Darrell Lackey\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/333bbffd8a9f931197abc00b19242031?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/333bbffd8a9f931197abc00b19242031?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Darrell Lackey\"},\"description\":\"Darrell Lackey has served as a lead pastor and currently works in the private sector. 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{"id":467,"date":"2017-11-08T20:18:29","date_gmt":"2017-11-08T20:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/divergence.blog\/?p=467"},"modified":"2017-11-08T20:18:29","modified_gmt":"2017-11-08T20:18:29","slug":"guns-and-double-standards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/11\/08\/guns-and-double-standards\/","title":{"rendered":"Guns and Double Standards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

But that isn\u2019t why I\u2019m writing this post.\u00a0 I want to say something about double standards.<\/p>\n

If someone with darker skin, from another country, whether here legally or illegally, had committed the atrocity in Texas, there would have been no talk of \u201cthoughts and prayers\u201d or that we should, out of respect for the dead, not speak of changes to policies and laws.\u00a0 There would have been no talk of, well, \u201cThe problem is just sin in people\u2019s hearts\u201d and that this is just a \u201cheart\u201d problem.<\/p>\n

No, there would have been immediate talk of changing immigration laws or policies, or the need for \u201cextreme vetting,\u201d or even talk of going to war against whatever nation or terrorist group this person came from or was a part.\u00a0 We would not have waited one second before we found who we might take our vengeance out upon or what laws or policies needed to be changed or strengthened\u2014all this would have happened before the bodies were even cold.<\/p>\n

However, if a white, male, American citizen commits these acts of terror and evil, we sigh, throw up our hands, and say, \u201cWell, what can we do?\u201d\u00a0 It is just the evil in their hearts.\u00a0 It has nothing to do with the current gun laws or policies, it is just a \u201csin\u201d problem and how dare you even bring such trivial matters up as we grieve the dead.<\/p>\n

Really?\u00a0 Then why wasn\u2019t that air-tight logic applied in the other cases (For instance, the recent New York event where a truck was used to kill people or any other \u201cterrorist\u201d attack)?\u00a0 And are Americans just more \u201csinful\u201d and \u201cevil\u201d than the rest of the world?\u00a0 Why is it that these types of mass shootings only happen on a regular basis<\/em> here (See here<\/a>)?<\/p>\n

Further, the whole \u201csin\u201d and \u201cevil\u201d hearts line sounds like a dodge at this point.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because that\u2019s what it is: a dodge.\u00a0 If every time something bad happened we just deflected to evil and sinful hearts as the cause, we literally would have no reason for any laws or policies to begin with.\u00a0 We would just throw up our hands and live in a chaotic violent world.<\/p>\n

But we don\u2019t do that.\u00a0 There are some problems we immediately move to address through the law, policy, and public perception.\u00a0 And others, like these mass shootings, we do not.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Why the double standard?<\/p>\n

Folks, we have a problem.\u00a0 And the problem isn\u2019t mental illness.\u00a0 Although the problem is a type of mental illness\u2014it is the type of illness where we believe doing the same thing (nothing) over and over will produce a different outcome.<\/p>\n

There are several good takes on these mass shootings here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"