Much of the American press is wringing their hands and asking, "What can we do about hate groups?" Anyone who reads this blog knows I think we need new laws about as much as I need pair of tits and some high-heeled alligator pumps-- i.e. we don't! We already have way too many laws.
But think about it this way-- what are the odds an African American or a person of Jewish extraction will be killed by a hate-spewing extremist, as opposed to, say a drunk driver? Or a stray bullet in a street shoot-out? Or an estranged spouse or family member? Or a jittery policeman at a traffic stop? Or a bolt of lightning? Or a terrorist set free from Guantanamo? I am guessing all of these reasons are at least an order or magnitude more likely to kill someone than the occasional addled and senile extremist packing heat.
If you think about this a bit, you'll see-- it's OK to be outraged, and it's OK to be sad and depressed, and it's OK to tell yourself you're not going to listen to racial or religious slurs without speaking out from now on. But passing laws that will allow more surreptitious government and police presence in our society is not an improvement, and will never reduce the death toll. Not by one death! Why not pass a law against lightning?
Calm down, go to the funeral, tell your racist uncle he's a freak and not welcome at family gatherings anymore. But don't pester your legislators to pass any more laws! We have too many already (legislators and laws).
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
1 comments:
More laws, no. But if you were Jewish, and in the museum such as I when this happened, you would know that outrage, sadness and depression do not even begin to express the depth of pain and emotion this experience would cause. It was the perfect example of why this memorial was built. It is not an artifact of the past. We have nothing to do but provide education and awareness- and be sensitive to those whose hearts were broken on that day.
Post a Comment