Only one solution to these mass shootings: stop making and selling assault weapons to a civilian population and collect/buyback and destroy the 20 million such weapons that are out there. The one and only purpose of such weapons is to proactively slaughter as many people as possible. They are not used for defense or hunting.
Only one solution to these mass shootings: stop making and selling assault weapons to a civilian population and collect/buyback and destroy the 20 million such weapons that are out there. The one and only purpose of such weapons is to proactively slaughter as many people as possible. They are not used for defense or hunting.
It's not going to happen and the gut wrenching reality is, the majority of Americans are literally being held hostage by the most evil of people draped in a bastardized interpretation of the 2nd Amendment - and that falls directly into the laps of the 5 supreme court justices in the majority opinion of DC v. Heller: Scalia (deceased), Roberts, Kennedy (retired), Thomas, Alito.
And, now we wait for the next horrifying massacre. It is sickening beyond belief.
Janet, the right wing in the USA, including the religious right, has mixed up the concept of the Biblical "end of times" with talk of another Civil war for years. It is crazy talk and noise I have ignored as too nutty to note for years.
But, my sister, who married a fundamental Baptist, owns an AR15. Not because she wanted it. Her husband did.
When I asked why they need that gun, he said: "The End of Times". I really have no idea what that term means, but, in the minds of those fundamentalists that buy those guns, I think it is some time that sort of combines when "Jesus comes back" and a time of total anarchy. During that time, they feeel they will need an assault rifle to?
Kill a bunch of people. But it will be OK then.
I don't know where such a nutty story originates, but, my sister's husband is not alone in buying into this seriously nutty narrative. I think this nutty story is nearly mainstream in Texas.
Janet, it is pretty weird out there in more parts of America than we all might think.
Hugh, like I say, I have ignored all this nutty story about the "end of times" most of my life since leaving East Texas where the preachers used to talk about it.
In grad school I carefully read the book of "Revelation" and concluded that somebody found their way into a poppy field or some LSD and was both high and hallucinating while writing that nonsensical mess.
There had been much diversity of thought at the fourth century Conference of Nicea where the New Testament books were selected.
Too bad they did include Revelation. The nuts doing tent revivals would spend 3/4 of their spitting speeches on that nutty stuff like they, and only they, knew what it meant.
Now? The tent revival guys are on TV and youtube with those nutty stories.
It's worse than that, these nuts are making laws and driving policy. Pence is one of these people. There are countless believers in our government, at every level. It's why they don't believe in climate change, or environmental destruction, or loss of life. Nothing matters except the Second Coming.
Now wait a minute. The book of Revelation is poetry. It calls up images to describe the world in every age which is menaced by "the whore of Babylon" (Trump? Putin? oligarchs everywhere? –– pick your favorite source of negative power) but defeated by the "hosts arrayed in white" who stand up to the forces of darkness. Revelation is MISread by fundamentalists (i.e., people who want to read scripture literally leading to faulty interpretations) and then dismissed by sensible people who might benefit by digging into it to see the lavish truth and beauty of its language.
Writings that ended up constituting the Bible were not chosen by any one council or person at any one time. Many canons (lists) of books were proposed over hundreds of years. (Nicea was convened to hammer out controversies raging at that time over whether Jesus was just a human or what to do with the fact that he "appeared" to his followers after he was buried.) The biblical material (histories, songs, poems, letters) was passed around from one community of faith to another, read aloud (not everyone was literate), and over time the readings that were most able to give the people courage (remember this was a time of persecution) ended up being compiled into what is now the Bible.
Melinda. Thank you. I did think the Conference of Nicea also formed much of the New Testament but I have been wrong before so can accept that when it does occur. I will go back and read again.
However, I have read Revelation twice. I have also read (some) poetry and am part of a community poetry group.
I respect your perspective the Revelation reads like poetry.
But, honestly, to me, it just reads like the ravings of madman either on drugs or simply mad.
We can say the same about many poets. But where would we be without them?! I'm glad you have been diving into these writings. I find it endlessly nourishing to ponder what the author intended. And in your poetry group, I would guess you have lively discussion of the images you encounter. Onward! . . . into language that shows us new things.
Mike, my dad was reading research on the authorship of the Bible in the late 1950’s. Revelations was suspected by scholars of having been written under the influence of hallucinogens. Now it’s the Fundies’ favorite book.
My sister, who married into a family who are Church of God faithful, first told me the End of Times is near in 1980. Her family is "well prepared" for the chaos that is to come.
I have been hearing about “the end is near” since I was a young child growing up in NC. On tv, reporters and camera crews would show these people holed up in caves. They thought they’d be saved from destruction. (Eye roll)
Mike, the trouble with not only believing the end times are coming and he will need an AR15 is that your brother-in-law joins the other believers who are also likely to own the same weapons. What do they do with these killing machines while they wait?
Things that have changed include planning a road trip. A few national parks are too crowded and more than a few locations in the US I would think twice before including. And on a road trip I would try very hard to avoid the news.
Unfortunately, the Republican base includes a large number of insurrectionists who believe all the guns are necessary for the coming civil war. They agree the guns are for military uses and they want them for that reason. They will never agree to any limits on their ownership and cowardly Republicans who want only to cling to power will do anything to retain their votes.
no matter what precautions you take, somebody will get into a building. if you observe the daily routine, you can find a way in. HCR points out that there were good guys with guns, but the killing still happened. in buffalo there was a good guy with a gun who actually fired at the perp, hitting him. but the perp wore body armor. he fired back and killed the security guard. so much for the good guy with a gun. and do you want to be the good guy holding a gun when the police show up? not me. here on long island, good guys with guns end up shooting other good guys with guns. the gun lobby wants teachers armed. of course they want teachers armed; that would be great for gun sales. how many schools are there in the country? multiply by a given number of teachers per school. that's a lot of guns sold. but they will be concealed pistols, no match for a rifle. you might as well bring a knife to the ok corral. the self-defense crowd is the modern version of the keystone cops. a child with a cell fone has them all beat. if it weren't for a teenager with a cell fone, that cop in MN would have gotten away with murder.
Total ban on the manufacture and on owning, this is on government. I have hopes but not much. BUT EACH OF US MUST CALL OR EMAIL A POLITICIAN DAILY UNTIL IT HAPPENS. I have seen the Cruz got heckled at a dinner last night. This should happen daily to every piece of scum out there that thinks its okay to slaughter innocents. The post born innocents.
Buyback--hey, anyone got a line to a like minded billionaire who might wish to start buying
these weapons? I'm all for the many social programs that they fund---but this is URGENT. And if they can purchase and turn the factories into making something else, Congressional Medal of Honor in my mind.
Hmm.........I'm not a biblical scholar, but aren't we commanded to turn swords into plowshares?
Only one solution to these mass shootings: stop making and selling assault weapons to a civilian population and collect/buyback and destroy the 20 million such weapons that are out there. The one and only purpose of such weapons is to proactively slaughter as many people as possible. They are not used for defense or hunting.
It's not going to happen and the gut wrenching reality is, the majority of Americans are literally being held hostage by the most evil of people draped in a bastardized interpretation of the 2nd Amendment - and that falls directly into the laps of the 5 supreme court justices in the majority opinion of DC v. Heller: Scalia (deceased), Roberts, Kennedy (retired), Thomas, Alito.
And, now we wait for the next horrifying massacre. It is sickening beyond belief.
America is committing suicide
…and has been since the invasion of Vietnam and the others that followed, all driven by our deadliest technology: language.
Janet, the right wing in the USA, including the religious right, has mixed up the concept of the Biblical "end of times" with talk of another Civil war for years. It is crazy talk and noise I have ignored as too nutty to note for years.
But, my sister, who married a fundamental Baptist, owns an AR15. Not because she wanted it. Her husband did.
When I asked why they need that gun, he said: "The End of Times". I really have no idea what that term means, but, in the minds of those fundamentalists that buy those guns, I think it is some time that sort of combines when "Jesus comes back" and a time of total anarchy. During that time, they feeel they will need an assault rifle to?
Kill a bunch of people. But it will be OK then.
I don't know where such a nutty story originates, but, my sister's husband is not alone in buying into this seriously nutty narrative. I think this nutty story is nearly mainstream in Texas.
Janet, it is pretty weird out there in more parts of America than we all might think.
And, I assume, they expect to get really comfy clouds for doing Jesus' work.
Hugh, like I say, I have ignored all this nutty story about the "end of times" most of my life since leaving East Texas where the preachers used to talk about it.
In grad school I carefully read the book of "Revelation" and concluded that somebody found their way into a poppy field or some LSD and was both high and hallucinating while writing that nonsensical mess.
There had been much diversity of thought at the fourth century Conference of Nicea where the New Testament books were selected.
Too bad they did include Revelation. The nuts doing tent revivals would spend 3/4 of their spitting speeches on that nutty stuff like they, and only they, knew what it meant.
Now? The tent revival guys are on TV and youtube with those nutty stories.
It's worse than that, these nuts are making laws and driving policy. Pence is one of these people. There are countless believers in our government, at every level. It's why they don't believe in climate change, or environmental destruction, or loss of life. Nothing matters except the Second Coming.
Holly,
Yes, you are right. To those who believe in the nutty narrative originally created by tent revival preachers to get money, nothing else matters.
But, as an engineer, I know the best predictor of the immediate future is the fairly immediate past (linear interpolation).
Which means, there will never be a "second coming" in reality.
However, the right may manufacture one with a fake Jesus and martial law. For example, Trump.
Bible=Big book of Jewish fairy tales.
Yes, Trump is their Messiah, you’re right!
Now wait a minute. The book of Revelation is poetry. It calls up images to describe the world in every age which is menaced by "the whore of Babylon" (Trump? Putin? oligarchs everywhere? –– pick your favorite source of negative power) but defeated by the "hosts arrayed in white" who stand up to the forces of darkness. Revelation is MISread by fundamentalists (i.e., people who want to read scripture literally leading to faulty interpretations) and then dismissed by sensible people who might benefit by digging into it to see the lavish truth and beauty of its language.
Writings that ended up constituting the Bible were not chosen by any one council or person at any one time. Many canons (lists) of books were proposed over hundreds of years. (Nicea was convened to hammer out controversies raging at that time over whether Jesus was just a human or what to do with the fact that he "appeared" to his followers after he was buried.) The biblical material (histories, songs, poems, letters) was passed around from one community of faith to another, read aloud (not everyone was literate), and over time the readings that were most able to give the people courage (remember this was a time of persecution) ended up being compiled into what is now the Bible.
Melinda. Thank you. I did think the Conference of Nicea also formed much of the New Testament but I have been wrong before so can accept that when it does occur. I will go back and read again.
However, I have read Revelation twice. I have also read (some) poetry and am part of a community poetry group.
I respect your perspective the Revelation reads like poetry.
But, honestly, to me, it just reads like the ravings of madman either on drugs or simply mad.
We can say the same about many poets. But where would we be without them?! I'm glad you have been diving into these writings. I find it endlessly nourishing to ponder what the author intended. And in your poetry group, I would guess you have lively discussion of the images you encounter. Onward! . . . into language that shows us new things.
Fascinating.
Mike, my dad was reading research on the authorship of the Bible in the late 1950’s. Revelations was suspected by scholars of having been written under the influence of hallucinogens. Now it’s the Fundies’ favorite book.
Carol C,
Fascinating. Thank you for posting. It does read like someone on drugs.
My sister, who married into a family who are Church of God faithful, first told me the End of Times is near in 1980. Her family is "well prepared" for the chaos that is to come.
I have been hearing about “the end is near” since I was a young child growing up in NC. On tv, reporters and camera crews would show these people holed up in caves. They thought they’d be saved from destruction. (Eye roll)
Charlatan's love the end of times. Because, it is so easy to get money by scaring people.
KellyR, in 1979 one of the early TV preacher predicted the world would end on a single day in 1980. His veiwership swelled mightily.
When the day came and went, he went on to his next prediction seamlessly like the master Charlatan that he was.
Pat Robertson. Ronald Reagan's partner in lying.
Another SOB!
I remember.
Armageddon? No. Intolerance.
Mike, the trouble with not only believing the end times are coming and he will need an AR15 is that your brother-in-law joins the other believers who are also likely to own the same weapons. What do they do with these killing machines while they wait?
Things that have changed include planning a road trip. A few national parks are too crowded and more than a few locations in the US I would think twice before including. And on a road trip I would try very hard to avoid the news.
Unfortunately, the Republican base includes a large number of insurrectionists who believe all the guns are necessary for the coming civil war. They agree the guns are for military uses and they want them for that reason. They will never agree to any limits on their ownership and cowardly Republicans who want only to cling to power will do anything to retain their votes.
Indeed. Well said.
no matter what precautions you take, somebody will get into a building. if you observe the daily routine, you can find a way in. HCR points out that there were good guys with guns, but the killing still happened. in buffalo there was a good guy with a gun who actually fired at the perp, hitting him. but the perp wore body armor. he fired back and killed the security guard. so much for the good guy with a gun. and do you want to be the good guy holding a gun when the police show up? not me. here on long island, good guys with guns end up shooting other good guys with guns. the gun lobby wants teachers armed. of course they want teachers armed; that would be great for gun sales. how many schools are there in the country? multiply by a given number of teachers per school. that's a lot of guns sold. but they will be concealed pistols, no match for a rifle. you might as well bring a knife to the ok corral. the self-defense crowd is the modern version of the keystone cops. a child with a cell fone has them all beat. if it weren't for a teenager with a cell fone, that cop in MN would have gotten away with murder.
You nailed it Janet.
Total ban on the manufacture and on owning, this is on government. I have hopes but not much. BUT EACH OF US MUST CALL OR EMAIL A POLITICIAN DAILY UNTIL IT HAPPENS. I have seen the Cruz got heckled at a dinner last night. This should happen daily to every piece of scum out there that thinks its okay to slaughter innocents. The post born innocents.
Buyback--hey, anyone got a line to a like minded billionaire who might wish to start buying
these weapons? I'm all for the many social programs that they fund---but this is URGENT. And if they can purchase and turn the factories into making something else, Congressional Medal of Honor in my mind.
Hmm.........I'm not a biblical scholar, but aren't we commanded to turn swords into plowshares?
Michael Bloomberg is the millionaire for this project.