Fifty-eight thousand Americans died in Vietnam. That was enough to fill the streets with protesters and spill blood on college campuses and turn elections. Roughly three thousand civilians died on 9/11. That was enough to be in Afghanistan for sixteen years and invade Iraq under false pretenses. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions died and the Middle East has been a killing field ever since. The world changed that day, they said.
Thirty-three thousand Americans died of domestic gun violence last year and there have already been sixty mass shootings this year. A 9/11 once a month and a mass shooting every six days. It’s come to a point where I see this on the news and I can’t even feel sad any more. It’s like a sports score. How many this week? Ooh, today was the fourth biggest in history and last month was the biggest. The news anchors always say the same things and the usual experts trot out their opinions on possible motives and we get to learn what semi-automatic guns can do because we may have forgotten those details from a report a few weeks ago. Even the music is the same. Each mass slaughter has its own theme music but it all sounds the same after a while. That guy in his studio who composes these sombre pieces of music sure picked the right business because he’ll never lack for work.
If the dead children of Sandy Hook didn’t change anything, if the Pulse nightclub in Orlando didn’t change anything, if the Las Vegas shooting didn’t change anything, why would anyone think another fifty shot today would change anything? Oh, and it’s never the right time to talk about gun control. It’s disrespectful to politicize the issue while families are still grieving. Slaughter, pray, and repeat. Every time.
Every Republican Texas Congressperson received money from the N.R.A. Every one. I counted. The Texas Governor recently tweeted that he was disappointed that Texas trailed California for first place in new gun purchases. Not one of these bastards deserves to send out their thoughts and prayers. And every voter who voted for a politician who is in the pocket of the N.R.A has blood on their hands. And they’re not allowed to be sad. Their thoughts and prayers are meaningless.
No one deserves to die this way, Republican or Democrat. But sending “thoughts and prayers” to the families of the deceased who were actually already praying in a church seems a bit disingenuous.
Ninety-five percent of Republican members of Congress identify as Christian. And nearly to a person, each accepts money from the N.R.A., the greatest terrorist group in America. And those thoughts and prayers aren’t working. God sat out the Holocaust. It didn’t end until people ended it. If God exists, I don’t think American domestic gun policy is high on the priority list. Maybe instead of tweeting meaningless thoughts and prayers, it would be wiser to save the lives of your fellow Christians. The ones you shalt not kill. Until then, you’re on your own.
America, heal thyself.
