In the Spirit of Community (guns)

In the Spirit of Community

In the spirit of our Unitarian sister, Julia Ward Howe, who wrote our opening "Mother's Day Proclamation," in the spirit of singing "bread and roses," a union song inspired by the 1912 walkout of textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts, in the spirit of dancing Sarah's circle - with these spirited words and gestures of unity and comradely fresh on our lips, I want to hold near and dear to our hearts all of those who traveled to Washington, DC for today's march and rally. I especially want to acknowledge the women, men, boys and girls from this congregation who made the trip and they will join hundreds of other Unitarian Universalists in calling for more effective and definitive national gun legislation in order to stop the senseless, meaningless and just plain stupid misuse of firearms. I wish I could be with them, but I can't. So I will recognize them, support them and share with you why I do.

I agree with the National Rifle Association that guns don't kill, people do. And I would add: In the America we share, those people usually kill with guns.

30,000 people a year are killed by guns (about the population of the City of Annapolis)
670,500 crimes used guns
18,000 suicides were committed with guns
1300 accidental deaths resulted from misuse of guns
In the tri-state/DC region, 3,457 people died last year by guns

(these statistics are from the HUD report "In the Crossfire," February 2000)

There are enough guns in the nation so that almost every household could have one - that's about 240 million. Another 5-7 million new guns are sold annually. (Harper's, 10.99)

1/3 of all firearms are handguns. Handguns are used in 9000 deaths a year (in contrast, in Britain the rate is 30). 12 children a day are killed by handguns. (Christian Century, 6.2-9.00) It's estimated that 1/3 of all handguns are kept unlocked and loaded at home. (Post, 4.28.99)
"Guns kept for self-defense are 43 times more likely to kill a family member or friend than to be used to kill someone in self-defense," (CC) or stated another way: "For every one time a citizen used a handgun to justifiably kill a criminal in self defense, 43 people died in handgun murders alone." (Post)

"Yes, guns don't kill and people do - but in the America you and I share, those people usually kill with guns." (Harper's, 5.92)

Some churches have tried, with mixed results to curb their members love affair with guns. For example, several years ago, the Mormons announced that guns, even when carried legally, were not welcome in church. A spokesperson for the Utah NRA called the church stance "a policy tragedy." (CC, 7.3-10.96) The Presbyterian Church (USA) tried something but was flooded with complaints after they asked members to voluntarily remove handguns and assault weapons from their homes. And in spite of the hope of many in Kentucky churches, the state now allows ministers and congregation officers to carry concealed weapons inside houses of worship. The law prompted one member of the Kentucky Council of Churches to respond with a graphic image: "Jesus would puke." (CC, 8.26-9.2.98)

I am among those who believe that these facts are just some of the many that make the case for a bold, radical change in attitude and law regarding the private ownership of weapons. In my lifetime, and especially in the last 20 years, I have watched the citizens of our nation lead it's politicians to protect and serve us by enacting legislation addressing threats from and concerns over cigarettes, AIDS, DWI, illegal drug use and many other social and quality-of-life issues. We have watched our legislators address and appropriate millions of dollars in order to end fears over nuclear destruction, terrorism, global warming, clear air and water, and the list goes on and on. With all of these, there was a "clear and present danger" to the common good that was understood by the majority of us. That majority needs to be heard again. The deaths and crimes that are now the result of gun use has reached a level of danger so intolerable to the stability of our national and family life that dramatic and progressive steps must be taken to change this country's seemingly death-wish turned international embarrassment due to private gun ownership.

Last year, I had just returned from 2 months on the island of Negros in the Philippines when the shootings at Columbine High School happened. I was eventually flooded with e-mails and notes from friends there asking how it could happen. How could I explain it. I tried: I told them about the American spirit of individualism, I explained about the Second Amendment and the right to bear arms, I shared with them the conflicts inherent to democracy and freedom. All of this fell on deafness - they didn't understand how such things could happen in such a great nation. How much sense did it make to say that such things could happen because we are such a great nation. That may sound good, but falls way short of being satisfactory. My wife Karen didn't have the luxury of communication by e-mail. She was in Russia at the time of Columbine, she and Phil Tawes were participating in a public school teacher exchange program. Face to face, teachers and students wanted answers - if America was so great, how could this happen? I had this sense that for both my Philippine friends and those Karen was visiting, this was more than an intellectual discussion, more than a comparative analysis of lifestyles and governments: They actually felt betrayed because they looked up to the US in ways that very few us can understand and appreciate because we take it all for granted. All of this is simply to say, "the whole world is watching."

How did we get to this point? How could this happen? Truth is, it does have a lot to do with the American spirit of individualism, the protection of the Constitution and the Second Amendment right to bear arms. All of these are so a part of the American way of life that we don't think about them very much - it takes an outsider, like a Filipino rice farmer or a Russian 8^th grader, to remind us of what we have here.

What we have is a nation that has changed. "From a string of coastal settlements, the United States has grown into a republic of 270 million people stretching across the entire North American continent. It is a congested, polluted society filled with traffic jams, shopping malls, and anomic suburbs in which an eighteenth-century right to bear arms is as out of place as silk knee britches and tricornered hats. So why must we subordinate ourselves to a 208-year-old law" that is no longer in the best interests of the common good, which poses a clear and present danger to the health and stability of our families and nation? (Harper's, 10.99)

The fact is that the Second Amendment is not going to change. As much as I might agree that the Constitution could be outdated in some respects, it's probably not wise to tinker with it. Far more effective would be giving renewed strength to the nation's moral voice and in the spirit of community as spoken about by Amitai Etzioni, moving from an ethic of me-ness to one of we-ness, something that will not be an easy matter but must be tried.

So what is the moral voice? One's inner moral voice, sometimes what people refer to as a conscience, tells us what we ought to be doing. It's based on experience, education and inner development. Your inner moral voice is based on such things as the reading we shared from I John 4: for many Christians as well as those who were raised with the importance of the Christian ethic, this statement is integral to their moral development, it is one piece of a moral ethic that helps to shape how we relate to others and especially strangers. I'm sure that each one of us could name ethical lessons, teachings and examples that have been imprinted on our lives which now are part of our inner moral voice. The magnitude may not be the same for everyone, but it's there.

There's also an outer moral voice which comes from the encouragement of others to adhere to shared values, values often based on the common importance of the education, experiences and inner development critical to the inner moral voice. Here's an example:

I was recently with some friends one of whom is a devoted member and active lay leader in his Methodist Church. For three years now, he's worn a WWJD ("What Would Jesus Do") bracelet, about which I've never offered a comment. We were watching the evening news when a story came on about the personal humiliation and suffering that a homeless woman had experienced at a local hospital emergency room. About half way through the story, my friend shouted at the TV: "Who cares? I mean, who really cares how she felt? Nobody. Nobody cares! I don't care!" We all just looked at him as if to say: "Who are you?" Finally, someone asked: "I wonder: What would Jesus do?" That's all it took. That's the outer moral voice - often it's just a reminder, a bolt to stand you back straight, to bring you back to the shared understanding and agenda. You can probably remember your own experiences of hearing the outer moral voice.

It's the moral voice that provides the antidote to the belief reflected in the advertisement from the American Ad Council (that I've put in your bulletin): "In America, you are not required to offer food to the hungry. Or shelter to the homeless. There is no ordinance forcing you to visit the lonely, or comfort the infirm. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say you have to provide clothing for the poor. In fact, one of the nicest things about living here in America is that you really don't have to do anything for anybody." Thank goodness that for the most part, Americans are a generous lot, just as you, as are most Unitarian Universalists, want to help, support and be of service. It's the moral voice that keeps us going, keeps us serving, keeps us walking our talk.

Ultimately it will be our moral voice that will move Americans to recognize the clear and present danger posed by private gun ownership. And it will not happen immediately or easily, for at least these two reasons:

First, we are a pluralistic and diverse nation. Not the analogy of a melting pot or a tossed salad, but we're more like a mosaic. This is quite different than most nations. When our children were young, we visited some Swedish friends for several weeks. They were often critical of Americans - the violence, inequalities, discrimination, they named all the social problems that we know are challenges for us. They were proud of their Swedish harmony and progressivism both of which are the products of a population homogeneity that would drive me crazy. The same is true for so many nations. The same was true when we lived in Maine - there just wasn't much diversity, everybody looked, thought and did pretty much the same. The U.S. is a mosaic, one of (if not the single most) diverse nation in the world. Consequently, it will not be easy reaching a consensus or a common moral voice - the experiences that we share are often limited and extreme. But we all share the dream of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Yet 30,000 people a year fall short of this dream due to gun violence. This can and needs to be stopped - there can be no question about it.

A second challenge for us: We live by a rule-based ethic. As of friend of mine once remarked: "You Americans have a rule for everything." I don't have a problem with rules - rules, laws, principles, as long as they are equitable, are a positive step toward reaching moral voice and harmony. But the test of any rule is how well it serves the relationship that generated it. In this way then, it's all about relationships and not the rules. Or another way someone has said it: Just because it's a right doesn't make it the right thing to do.

Today's march is a classic one in that it will bring these two issues to a head. Those attending this march are saying that a strict interpretation of the Second Amendment's right to bear arms is literally killing the country in two ways: It is putting a rule over relationships for the sake of the rule. And it is putting individual rights over the common good. If we are to bring healing to our communities, if we are to live without the fear of gun violence, if we are to value our relationships with our friends and fellow citizens, we must encourage bold and swift action by doing the following:

First, we must do everything we can to not only strengthen our moral voice but to encourage people to speak out. It's time that we put the common good in front of individual rights - on this one issue. It's not about freedom - it's about life. If you value living, then the gun madness must come to a stop. But strengthening the moral voice will take time, maybe generations. We cannot wait for this, as important as this is.

So second, people should be allowed to acquire guns only after going through procedures at least as rigorous as those involved in getting a driver's license. This would be but a small hardship for most people and for those unwilling to participate in this civic responsibility, I really would have to question their commitment to the common good, to the spirit of community.

Third, handguns should be banned. Now, the likelihood of this happening is probably unrealistic so then I would say that the selling and purchasing of handguns should be very limited with a lot of restrictions including it being unlawful to carry a weapon (concealed or not). I'm not sure why anyone has to carry a handgun.

And only if this is done, should police then be given the authority of the search and seizure of guns in a process that would be carefully scrutinized and reviewed so as to avoid abuse. If we are to take seriously the desire to remove guns from the streets, from those who should not have guns, then such a dramatic step will need to be taken.

Why, why do all of this? Because the spirit of community, the we-ness that made our communities so strong, is worth saving from the path of a misguided individualism that has resulted in a destructive ethic of me-ness. It's time that we put the common good and relationships before individualism and rules. It's time to say "No more" before others must needlessly die. It's time to say "No more" to those who think of this as the plot of a crazed minority. It's time to say "No more" to those who stand in the way of the spirit of American community. It's time to get on with life.

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