“But God chose the foolish things
of the world to shame the wise;
God chose the weak things of
the world to shame the strong.”
1 Corinthians 1:17

All the effort to label the person in the Connecticut school killing of 20 children as a person with a serious mental illness, or as some would say a ‘mentally ill’ person or ‘crazy’ person is started to disturb. On one hand I am glad to see attention brought to the one of five persons in this country who suffers from a mental illnesses or brain illnesses as I would say. However, the emphasis seems to be preventing them from getting guns rather than treatment of the illness. Some are using it to distract from the deadly illness of violence and the issues of easy availability of guns in our society, only meant to kill human beings.

As I pointed out in my posting the other night Guns With People Kill People on the same day as the Connecticut shooting a ‘crazy’ person in China attacked 22 children in a school in China using a knife and not one of the children died. Also today we had three prayer vigils for four young men who died of gun violence in the last week of Milwaukee. Without handguns these young man may be alive today. More guns mean more gun violence.

The president is calling for another commission to study gun violence in the USA. I think we all know deep in our hearts some of the answers:

1. Treat so called ‘mental illnesses’ as other illnesses like cancer. No one would say a person with cancer is “cancerous” as they say a person with a mental illness is ‘mentally ill.’ This means the money to research and treat these types of brain disorders as any other disorder or illnesses as well as making it available for all not only the wealthy.

2. Control guns in this country that are only meant for one purpose, to kill human beings. Hunters do not need assault weapons or handguns to hunt.

3. Rethink the culture of violence we live in with violence used in movies,TV, video games and other media.

4. Stop using weapons of death, like killer drones, in countries like Pakistan that we are not at war with. How can a president comfort and lead us when he is responsible for a CIA kill list that will result in deaths of so many children. We must remember all the children, adults, young adults (particular young adult African American men). See last night’s posting in Remember All the Children.
5. The Catholic Church, as many others, is rightly concerned about the life of the unborn; however they are silent about the lives of those born, especially if they are not Americans. As we were reminded yesterday by the article by Bill Quigley 16,000 children “die each day around the world from hunger.”

6. Christians can stop hiding behind the “just war theory” that was written for wars where there were no bombs, no automatic weapons and no drones. As a friend of mine once said: The bombing of Hiroshima shattered any remnants of the “just war theory” that were still valid.

7. Catholic Social Justice tells us that “the purpose of government and laws is for the ‘common good.’ Government can pass laws, like making a background check mandatory for all gun sales, that will protect us.

8. Preach and Practice the message of the ‘nonviolent cross’ of the Gospels in the pulpit and on the streets: “Love your enemies”. Do not do harm to those who harm you.

I can go on and on with the simple but effective cures for gun violence in this country. But I am preaching to the ‘choir’ and to myself.

I love the Catholic Church but if I was ever ‘excommunicated’ I would like it to be for three reasons: 1) Standing up for equality of women in the Church, in particular women’s ordination. 2) Resisting the teaching of war and violence particularly in our Catholic Universities like Marquette University. 3) For being in solidarity with the poor, outcast and rejected and struggling to be voice for the voiceless, those stigmatized by society or too poor to have a voice. I am starting to see these three questions of conscience come together in my life and must remind myself of the words of Jesus: “Be Not Afraid.” Be Not Afraid to speak truth to power and to follow our conscience.

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