Will the Gun Violence Ever Abate?...

As America continues to careen down the gun violence highway with guns blazing children and other innocent people die. And our law makers, almost exclusively republican, refuse to do a damn thing about it. Apparently in their eyes the right to own and indiscriminately use a gun trump's the life of school children and others who die... REGULALY... by gun violence.

I came across the following article written by James Baraz in 2011 following the shooting of  Gaby Gifford by Jared Loughner. It is America's shame that 11 years later this nation is in an even darker place with gun violence and the culture of guns and death than we were 11 years ago.

It is any wonder many, perhaps most, in America believe that once again not a damn thing will change following the very recent rash of mass shootings. Gun proliferation and death will likely continue escalating rather than diminishing in the USA,  as continued ignorance blinds many millions in this nation.

And now excerpts from te 2011 article.

Every human being wants to feel safe and have peace. That's a tall order in a culture that glorifies violence. Gun rights groups are now proposing legislation that would require the Arizona Department of Public Safety to provide firearms training to state legislators. Would that have protected Gabrielle Giffords? As Martin Lither King pointed out:

"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate...Returning violence for violence multiples violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that."

The Buddha similarly taught, "Hatred never ceases by hatred. Hatred only ceases by love. This is an ancient and eternal law."

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In Buddhism, ignorance has an even broader definition. One aspect of it is not truly understanding the karmic consequences of our actions. Another is lack of awareness as to where happiness really lies. Basic understanding of karma states very simply that actions which come from greed, hatred or ignorance lead to suffering. Actions based in generosity, kindness and wisdom lead to happiness. After his enlightenment, the Buddha was motivated to teach because of the ignorance he saw: although everyone wants to be happy, most people are acting in ways that lead to more suffering.

Jesus' famous statement on the cross was based on this same understanding: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." He saw that, although on one level they knew very well what they were doing, they didn't understand who he was or the consequences of their actions because their minds were colored by hate and fear.

The real villain in this story is not Jared Loughner. It's not the media. And it's not the gun rights advocates. The real villain is ignorance. Because of ignorance, people project their fear and turn those who are different into enemies -- both in their minds and in actuality. This is the history of war, as Sam Keen brilliantly pointed out in Faces of the Enemy. Once you demonize the "other" they become less than human and you can inflict pain on them without guilt or shame.

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Clamoring for more access to guns because you genuinely want to feel safer is like trying to put out a fire with gasoline. And those politicians who seem to know what they're doing as they spew vitriol, consciously inciting and provoking others by making an opponent a target, are simply pyromaniacs enthralled by the fire of conflict and power. That, too, is ignorance in the Buddhist sense because, although it might seem to have a purpose, in the end it will not lead to less suffering.

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A friend who shared his reflections about the shootings said it made him ask himself, "How do I show up in this culture?" We need to stop and feel into it -- the pain, the fear, the anger, the confusion -- and ask ourselves: "Where does this take me? What's the wisest response internally and externally?" The answers from the past aren't quite sufficient. Something else is needed. This is the time to ask ourselves how spirituality can help when a new response is called for.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote,

"If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?"

Full article BELOW the FOLD