The shooting in Uvalde, Texas, continues to dominate headlines -- largely because it is simply so shocking, and partly because the media and the Democrats want to push gun control and need an issue to distract from the Biden administration's many failures.
My friend, Jon Voight, has posted videos calling for some kind of certification before individuals can purchase and own guns. I'm not opposed to that, in principle, though it's not clear it would have stopped the killer in this case. We've also been through the summer of riots in 2020, largely backed by the Democratic Party, and the experience has probably ended any prospect of gun control for the near future.
There are two other alternatives: hardening the targets, i.e. hiring guards or installing metal detectors at schools nationwide; and/or using Big Data to monitor individuals who may be risks to their communities. Democrats will reject the former; both parties will probably reject the latter. So there is little hope for progress, at least at the legislative level, in dealing with this problem.
My own prediction is that school districts will take up the issue of guards on their own. The fact that there was so much controversy about the presence, or not, of a school resource officer at the start of the shooting has highlighted the issue.
Moreover, this may be one of those issues, like plan hijacking, that Americans take into their own hands. Since 9/11, passengers have rushed anyone who is a threat on a flight. After the chilling videos emerged of parents gathering outside the school in Uvalde, only to be held back by police, who waited for an hour before rushing the killer, I don't think you'll ever see Americans wait outside a school during a lockdown ever again. People will risk their lives.
This week’s portion launches the great story of Abraham, who is told to leave everything of his life behind — except his immediate family — and to leave for “the Land that I shall show you.”
There’s something interesting in the fact that Abraham is told to leave his father’s house, as if breaking away from his father’s life — but his father, in fact, began the journey, moving from Ur to Haran (in last week’s portion). His father set a positive example — why should Abraham leave him?
Some obvious answers suggest themselves — adulthood, needing to make one’s own choices, his father not going far enough, etc.
But I think there is another answer. Abraham (known for the moment as Abram) needs to establish his own household. This is not just about making one’s own choice, but really about choosing one’s own starting point. It’s starting over.
Sometimes we start over in fundamental ways even if much that surrounds us remains the same. Sometimes the journey we have to ...
The story of Noah is familiar; the details, less so.
Noah is often seen as an ambivalent figure. He was righteous -- but only for his generation. What was his deficiency?
One answer suggests itself: knowing that the world was about to be flooded, he built an Ark for the animals and for his own family -- but did not try to save anyone else or to convince them to repent and change their ways (the prophet Jonah, later, would share that reluctance).
Abraham, later, would set himself apart by arguing with God -- with the Lord Himself! -- against the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, saying that they should be saved if there were enough righteous people to be found (there were not).
Still, Noah was good enough -- and sometimes, that really is sufficient to save the world. We don't need heroes every time -- just ordinary decency.
Hi all -- as I noted last month, I'm going to be closing down my Locals page, at least for tips and subscriptions -- I may keep the page up and the posts as well, but I'm no longer going to be accepting any kind of payment.
Look for cancelation in the very near future. Thank you for your support!
