How to create change series

It just happened again in Minnesota when a gunman shot through a church window and killed two children.

The biggest killer of our children in the US is gun violence. Like the Black Death with its monstrous boils and organ failure, gun violence destroys entire families.

Drowning in a swamp of misinformation and pressure campaigns by gun activists, it feels like no one can see straight, let alone do anything about it. Yes, we can!

In my book, Unleash Movements that Matter: Break through Barriers to Change, I dive deep into this situation, carefully looking at other countries with similar cultural demographics to the US. They’ve taken action and have few problems.

Here is what you need to know and some ideas for how to make change. This series is about helping people make change.

Reference Bible Verses

“Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.” – Ecclesiastes 9:18

“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are undisturbed. But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder.”
– Luke 11:21-22

We have a cultural problem

Many believe the answer to many of our crime problems is a hammer. Stalin used this method and killed millions of dissidents and anyone near them.

Saddam Hussein used it in Iraq to quell dissent, and human rights advocates were faced with atrocities.

Iran uses it to even control women’s hair and clothing and suppress dissidents.

The Taliban in Afghanistan uses it to curtail any unrest and keep women hidden and uneducated.

Idi Amin used extreme and widespread violence, political purges, and gross human rights abuses, including purges of the Christian population. Israel is using it against Arabs and Christians in Gaza.

Brazil’s military dictatorship captured and tortured dissidents, and killed many of them. Some they simply dropped from planes into the ocean. Today government violence in Brazil primarily involves police killings of civilians, often in low-income communities, with a disproportionate impact on Black individuals.

In Venezuela, thousands of arbitrary arrests were carried out against political opponents, human rights defenders and journalists—hundreds of children were among those detained. Detainees, including women and children, were allegedly tortured.

The misery created by those who choose a hammer to temporarily solve crime problems and silence dissidents shows that it produces only human misery and fear. It doesn’t solve problems.

The hammer is just wish fulfillment that problems just go away. It’s the will to power to erase things. It’s not an answer.

Studies show that criminal behavior is the result of various interconnected factors, not a single motive.

From AI (to avoid any bias I might have):

Poverty and economic hardship: While not the sole cause, significant data correlates low socioeconomic status and economic insecurity with a higher likelihood of incarceration. For individuals struggling to meet basic needs, crime may be perceived as a last resort.
Substance abuse: A high percentage of incarcerated individuals have a substance use disorder, which is frequently linked to criminal behavior. The need to fund an addiction is a powerful motivator for crime driven by dependence.
Psychological and family factors: Other major contributing factors include family dysfunction, childhood trauma, antisocial traits, and mental health challenges.
Limited alternatives: Many individuals involved in crime face poor educational or work histories, making legitimate employment difficult to obtain. This lack of opportunity can make crime seem more appealing as a way to “make ends meet.”

Pockets of poverty in inner cities and very poor rural areas are examples of how economic hardship, substance abuse, childhood trauma, and lack of opportunity create a perfect door for crime.

The “fix it with a hammer” attitude reflects many things. We aren’t in touch with these neighborhoods and avoid them. We don’t know how to fix them and don’t try to find out. Instead, we resort to pithy slogans about how it’s all their fault and not our problem. This also reflects our spiritual condition, showing that we are uncaring and can’t be bothered with the issue, so we just take a hammer to it.

Part of the problem is our gun culture. The U.S.’s violent beginnings and frequent wars have indoctrinated us into using guns to solve difficult problems. Militarism is a tool used to keep world peace, and it works for that. However, military leaders tell us that war itself doesn’t bring peace; it’s a last resort. Diplomacy brings peace between nations. In society, guns and hammers only disguise the underlying problems.

We have a gun problem

Many people feel that the Second Amendment, which allows people to own guns for their defense, is a right worth the sacrifice of two school shootings a day and frequent mass shootings in our schools. Our children are perceived as of less value than guns.

Yet guns are of dubious value for self-protection and often get people killed. Even experiments with an experienced gunman taking down a mass shooter often yield more tragic results for the experienced person and for others. It’s a useless contest. In real life, brave people rushing a shooter yields better results.

The tales and distorted statistics provided by some gun enthusiasts terribly distort the real picture. Even some statesmen use these to remain in office, with gun enthusiast support being critical to re-election.

In my bookI dive deeply into the gun violence situation and ways to resolve it. What I show is that other countries with similar cultural demographics to the US, same problems, similar desire for independent action, with similar violent tendencies, don’t have this gun violence or murder problem. Murders are miniscule compared to the US.

In my book, Unleash Movements that Matter: Break through Barriers to Change, I dive deeply into the gun violence situation and ways to resolve it. I show that other countries with similar cultural demographics to the U.S.—with similar problems, a similar desire for independent action, and similar violent tendencies—don’t have this gun violence or murder problem. Their murder rates are miniscule compared to the U.S.

People in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand can own guns, contrary to popular vitriol. They just have to show a need for them. And many can own them for sport. They resisted gun laws, but accepted them after they were in place.

The only real differences between us and them are the prevalence of guns and respect for authority. They respect authority. In the US, fewer people respect authority.

The statistics in the US are clear. The murder rate increases at nearly a 1 to 1 ratio with more guns. One more gun, one more murder. This is more true in the South.

Guns don’t fix problems. People fix problems.

Mass shooters are usually very disturbed people. They’re disturbed, not insane. They have few friends, feel socially isolated, and believe they can’t resolve their problems. Similar to what drives terrorists, frustrated and hopeless, they shoot others to make a big statement. This is a major problem in our society that people exclude other people.

If we want problems fixed in the US, (I do), then we have to address the causes of crime and fix those. And it won’t happen overnight because much of this criminal behavior is learned.

In poverty areas in inner cities and rural areas, there are ways to resolve these problems, as I outline in Systemic and intractable problems – Part 3 – inner cities.

The real question before us is whether we have the will to resolve these problems such as gun violence and poverty. We’ve already dragged 20^thcentury problems through the first quarter of the 21^st century. We prefer to ignore them, letting them fester and grow, telling the police to hit them with a hammer, and blaming anything but ourselves for not fixing them.”

This reflects our spiritual condition, exemplified by Jesus second command to love others as ourselves. Many in the US claim the US is a Christian country. Is Christianity a label to justify what we want to believe? Or do we reflect the Second Commandment to love others as ourselves?

This raises the question of whether we are a good society or if our role in the world as a beacon of freedom, hope, and love should be terminated? Other countries might reflect better results in our experiment in democracy.

Conclusion

Gun violence is a reflection of our spiritual condition. We either display it through our approval of guns and the resulting violence, or through our indifference. A better reflection of our spiritual condition would be to find the facts and resolve the problems that cause crime and violence in our society.