Fellow saints and sinners, it’s with some sadness and more fascination that I write after seeing the onslaught of fierce and even violently ad hominem attacks in response to my post from two days ago about Georgia’s new gun rights legislation. From here on out, these sorts of responses won’t be tolerated at this intersection between life and God, but today, as a means of investigating the sharp political and cultural divide that afflicts our country, I’ll let them stand for themselves. “Highlights” were my being called a “bedwetter,” a “liberal, lying witch,” and, a “cretin.” I had to look the last term up: the definition of a “cretin” in the words of the Oxford Dictionary is a “stupid person (used as a general term of abuse).”
Now that I’ve been called all these names, I’m going to sign up for an NRA membership and put an AK-47 bumper sticker on my car. (Sarcasm is still allowed here.)
But one reader who called me a witch had a good point: he reminded me that it’s a federal law that you can’t carry guns on planes, so I may be wrong that Georgia residents will be able to take guns on to planes. I stand corrected. Gun owners may only be able to take their guns through TSA lines, I guess—that is, so long as a tired, over-worked TSA agent catches the gun in their carry-on bags…
From now on, the name calling stops; today, it serves as a helpful educational exercise for me and all my “liberal” friends advocating sensible gun regulation about the deep cultural divides in this country and the vociferousness and violent rhetoric (in many cases) of a small, angry minority.
[For the record: I am politically independent and become uncomfortable when Christians from either side insist that to be a good Christian one must vote Republican or Democrat. And, once again, for the record, I am advocating sensible gun regulation as part of a holistic approach to preventing future massacres like Newtown.]
Here are some of the comments which, incidentally, with the exception of one “like” on Facebook from another of the silent majority, were the only comments to this post; (you can catch the others at the bottom of this post):
James in North Carolina writes: “Typical liberal hogwash. Trying to point to an event that caused them angst and a law they don’t like and present a fictional cause and effect between the two.”
“Teebonicus” writes: “Personally, I liked it better when you WEREN’T speaking out. It’s the law. Get used to it, you bed-wetter.”
Mark Harper writes: “Hmmm…Kristina’s embarrassed that she received the Young Republican Women’s scholarship but this cretin has not refunded the money. She thinks people can walk onto planes with loaded weapons. She also thinks if someone abuses their rights, then OUR rights should be removed/restricted. She puts the words rights and liberty inside quotation marks. Kristina, if you are so concerned about government employees rummaging through your stuff, complain about the TSA looking for bottles of liquid that are more than three ounces.”
One reader (Frank) offered some reasonable-sounding advice: “If there is a threat of criminal gang members bringing guns, then searches are the only way to catch them, regardless of the restrictions on permit holders. If there is NOT a threat of criminal gang members bringing guns, then the Atlanta natatorium is choosing to prohibit concealed handguns and searching your bags for no good reason, and it is to them that you should express your resentment.”
Thanks for reading, Frank. And thank you to all of you who are willing to offer constructive work towards bipartisan solutions around the use and regulation of guns by private American citizens. Since my original post, I’ve: a) met a man with an amputated arm who lost his arm in a gun accident as a child and b) heard a non-gun-owning friend regale her fear to discover that as she was relaxing at her local spa, another private citizen strolled into the spa with a handgun strapped to his belt. Apparently we proud Georgians can also take guns to the spa now!
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