Fr. Dwight Longenecker7. Understand Islam – It’s true that there are violent, radicalized Muslims. It is true that the Islam is an uncompromising ideology. It’s true that Islam demands the imposition of Sharia law and that it can be interpreted that jihad is mandatory. Nevertheless, it is too simplistic to blame all violence or the threat of violence on Muslims. That is too easy a scapegoating mechanism. Instead we must make the effort, as unpleasant as it may be, to try to understand the Islamic mindset. They’re not going to go away, so we had better do what we can to help moderate Muslims bring out what is best from their religion and get them to teach their people to avoid radicalism and to eradicate violence and the root causes of violence from within their own house.
8. Honor Gentlemen – A gentleman is a truly civilized man. He is a man of faith and honor. He is a man of outstanding courage and personal virtue. He is a hero to his sons and an example to his community. A gentleman is virtuous, chaste, faithful and pure. He holds his head high and will fight for the right with dignity and self sacrifice. These were the men who were our grandfathers and fathers. That ideal of manhood is fading and it needs to be renewed, for in that Christian ideal of masculinity, young men can grow in confidence, strength and goodness.
9.Teach Rational, Objective Morality – Mass murderers–whether they are ideologically driven or mentally ill–are insane. They have left that path of reason, rationality and common sense. Sound reasoning and a rational search for truth can be taught in schools. If education is completely subjective, vocationally oriented and relativistic the human mind has no mooring and is more vulnerable to the false order and rationality that ideologies offer and to the widening spiral of insanity. Rational morality is the teaching that virtue is objective. It is reasonable and a rational life is good honest and possible.
10. Return to the Christian Faith – Christianity teaches that killing is wrong and that murderers go to hell. That’s a deterrent. But more than that, and more positively, it calls on the individual to take personal responsibility, to aspire to virtue, to honor human life, to care for one’s neighbor, to nurture the wounded and weak, to reach out to help others and build a civilization of love. Without Christianity what does a person have except the pursuit of hedonistic satisfaction, or failing that, the drift into insanity or an ideology that gives their life meaning?
All that being said, do we need gun control?
Of course we do. We control other dangerous aspects to life and take it for granted that this is what we do in a civilized society. We control drugs and alcohol. We control motor vehicles and dangerous equipment. We control the people who use dangerous equipment, power tools, medical gear, drugs and alcohol.
We make people go on training courses to know how to handle dangerous tools, vehicles and equipment. We make them get things like driver’s licenses, certificates of training for heavy vehicles and power tools. We have health and safety people controlling working environments and we don’t let stupid, immature, insane and incapable people operate machinery, vehicles, equipment and materials that may harm them or other people.
It is common sense therefore, that society has similar restrictions on guns. In England, to own a gun you had to have a license and to apply for the license you needed to have the application signed by a person in authority who knew you well. I was counseling a man at the time who was suffering from depression and suppressed rage. When he came and asked me to sign for his shotgun license I declined–referring him to his doctor instead. That makes sense.
Sure Americans have the right to keep and bear arms. We should be able to do this with safety and confidence. We take it for granted that we must learn how to be of a certain age and learn how to drive a car. We accept that a person needs to pass a test and get a driver’s license issued by the state. Why do we get so worked up that similar laws should be in effect to ensure gun safety?
Good, sane people will still be able to have their guns, but sensible gun control laws are just common sense.
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