The Newtown Legacy

The Tragedy of Newtown-- will it be the Legacy of Our Time

Before of the children of Newtown were resting in their graves and while tears of families and friends were still being shed, many were gathering tightly around the poles of the gun issue, while most were quietly in between. The social media were replete with messages and cut-and-paste posters purporting to carry absolute truths. But none of us know what the solution is or is not.

We Americans are descended of courageous and caring giants of reason. None of us can be forced to think about the complex problem of guns, mental health, and violence generally. We have the freedom to let others decide for us and live by cleverly worded slogans often written by anonymous people whose values are unknown to us. We also have the freedom to evaluate what and why we believe and contribute original ideas to a solution. Or we can choose to not think and accept the unique obscenity of violence toward the innocent as the price of freedom in America.

The fundamental right to bear arms can and should be preserved, but not in a manner that arms teachers, or allows military weapons to be purchased by any adult, or encourages us to distrust those of opinions that are different from our own. Guns are part of a larger problem in America, and they are a part that can be reasonably addressed regardless of political party and religious affiliation.

Our constitution is a wonderful document. One of its most brilliant aspects is brevity. Our Founding Fathers were aware that the country of their time would change. They could not predict specific events, but they could predict that the future would demand occasional adjustments to the fundamental ideas in the constitution. Too many specifics would impede the process of necessary amendments. Could they have invisioned the nature of firearms in today's world? I think not.

My most fervent hope to heaven is that in this great nation the legacy of our time will not be written across the gravestones of the children of Newtown and that we will not be the generation that accepted the slaughter of innocents as routine and refused to recognize civility and reason as agents of positive change. May we appeal to "the better angels of our nature" and lean not on the uncertain safety of firearms, but on cooperation and compromise seeking courage and understanding from our spiritual and rational selves.


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