I was watching the news a couple hours ago when the first parent of a deceased child spoke to the media. Almost immediately I knew he was LDS. The way he was phrasing his words along with the view of a cultural hall behind him struck me so hard. When this family had their morning prayer together yesterday, they had no idea their 6-year-old daughter would be speaking with God face-to-face just a short time later.
Another reason I am aching is that the shooter apparently had Aspergers Syndrome. I'm scared this will cause people to look at those with Aspergers as heartless, which could not be farther from the truth. I have to wonder what other issues this boy also had that led him to commit such a horrific act.
The world is such a scary place, but somehow I need to find a way to not fear the future. My children deserve a mom who instills confidence in them, and teaches them that the power of Jesus Christ will always be stronger than the power of the adversary. Ryan and I went to the temple today and were asked to be the witness couple in our endowment session. Feeling the peaceful spirit of the temple helped me immensely. Ryan and I said a prayer together for our babies while in the Celestial Room. When I stood up, Ryan told me he needed a few more minutes to pray for the families of the Connecticut victims. Much of the nation is praying for those affected by this tragedy, and I know that faith in Jesus Christ's atonement can heal. I hope the example set by the family in the news today can help lead others to the peace found only in our Savior.
A few of my thoughts on those issues that are being brought to the forefront due to many recent shootings.
- As far as gun control, taking away citizens guns is not going to solve the problem. Americans have owned guns for many centuries yet events such as this were very rare until fairly recently. I hate guns. Absolutely HATE them. I refuse to ever look at, touch or shoot Ryan's gun. But I do like knowing he could defend our family in an emergency. It's taken me years of pondering the issue to feel this way. A gun death in my family when I was a teenager instilled a deep fear in me of all guns. For many years I wished all guns could be destroyed except those used by our soldiers and police officers. But now I realize that's impossible. Criminals will ALWAYS find a way to get access to a weapon.
- That said, there is NEVER a need for a civilian to own an assault rifle. I understand a need for protection, but unless you are active military or a member of a SWAT team, it should be unlawful to have an assault rifle in your possession.
- We have a very violent culture. Our society is shocked every time a shooting crime occurs, yet the MAJORITY of households in our country have first-person shooter video games or extremely violent movies. Violence is NOT entertainment!
- A few celebrities have stated that our country will continue to become corrupted until we put God back into our lives, including our schools. I fully agree, yet these celebrities are getting such a backlash from both non-believers and believers. I saw a comment from a Christian today that said it is highly inappropriate for a celebrity to make such a comment, considering their position in the world. What?? That is exactly what is wrong with our country! America was built on a foundation of God, and it has deteriorated rapidly since we decided to cater to the minority for fear of not being politically correct. Why is it that Bibles are prohibited from schools yet encouraged in prisons, when they are both government institutions? We need to put God FIRST.
- Every time a shooter decides to cowardly take other lives, their name and picture get splattered on every newspaper. We need regulations that make it illegal to give the shooter an identity, so they will never get the notoriety they seek by committing heinous crimes. Let us remember the victims, not the perpetrators. Since when did suicide include the killing of other innocent individuals first?
- More money and research need to go into studying mental health issues. What is making these people snap one day? There are messed up people in every city in our country, but they aren't shooting bystanders in schools, churches, malls or movie theaters. What can we do to prevent further massacres?
- As a beginning to the last question I posed, it begins in the home. Love, acceptance, responsibility, and kindness are traits kids can learn from their parents. I don't mean to say that all kids turn out well if they have good parents, or even that all terrible parents produce bad children. But our homes need to be sanctuaries from the chaos of the world. As a sidenote to this, good parenting doesn't mean constantly shielding our children from worldly pressures that might harm their self-esteem. Although parenting techniques have improved dramatically since we started taking psychological effects into consideration, my generation seems to have taken the confidence issue too far. Nowadays, there can't be winners/losers in sports, teachers give children numerous chances to make up tests so the children don't feel bad about themselves, and parents are far too concerned with being their child's "friend," instead of being their child's parent.
I guess that's enough ranting for tonight. It's almost 1:00 am and I need to get up early for church. And for the record, I will be wearing a dress to church tomorrow. Some Mormon feminists called for a "Wear Pants to Church" day nationwide tomorrow. Their mission statement says,
"The creators of this event are feminists who recognize pants are a symbol of much larger issues that require addressing. This event is the first act of All Enlisted, a direct action group for Mormon women to advocate for equality within our faith. We do not seek to eradicate the differences between women and men, but we do want the LDS church and its members to acknowledge the similarities. We believe that much of the cultural, structural, and even doctrinal inequality that persists in the LDS church today stems from the church's reliance on – and enforcement of – rigid gender roles that bear no relationship to reality".
Uh....ok? I couldn't care less if a woman wears pants to church. If these women feel stifled by "rigid gender roles" in our church, they should be who they want to be. Christ knows their heart - he doesn't care about their clothes. He just wants me to dress in a way that helps me feel comfortable partaking of the Sacrament in His name. Would I wear pants or sweats to church if I didn't feel it trivialized my purpose for being there? Sure! I'm pretty much the biggest advocate ever of stretchy pants and hoodies. What are these "larger issues" they are referring to? And what are the similarities they feel are not being addressed? "Cultural, structural and doctrinal inequality"? I guess I'm glad these women found peers that have the same feelings so they feel validated. As for me, I will wear a skirt and let the men spend all day at church in priesthood meetings. I don't felt slighted as a woman in the church. That's not how Christ wants anyone to feel. Sometimes I think we get too caught up in the "church" and forget that the church is just a means to help us focus more on the gospel. Hell, I'll snuggle up next to the lady sitting in Sacrament wearing a leopard-print bodysuit and reeking of alcohol. Good for her, showing up at a place of worship where she hopes to feel the love of her Savior. If all our sins reeked as badly as cigarette smoke, we would be a terribly stinky congregation full of imperfect people trying to correct our wrongs and become more like Christ everyday. Point being, we are all sinners. All individuals. And all equally loved by our Father in Heaven. If wearing pants will help these women feel more accepted by their Maker, then power to them.
2 comments:
I agree with all your comments about the Conn. shootings. I am avoiding the news now because I can't for the life of me not tear up at any mention of what happened. I read a really great book once, and in it talked about sucide. When sucide is reported on the news not only does sucide rates go up, but so do motor vechile accidents. They think that people are either in a self destructive state of mind, or purposefull run into other people. I wonder if it is the same with mass shootings. Seeing it triggers something with in other disturbed people which cause them to emulate that behavior. It is a crazy world we live in where such access to information is a blessing and a curse.
As far as the pant thing goes. I read an article the woman who started pants day wrote. She feels like there should be more women in the organaztion and leadership roles of the church. That women do the same thing as men but are treated unequally, like the fact that leaders are called sisters when women, but president when men. Also some women who commented want to hold the priesthood.
I had a seminary teacher once jokingly say that the priesthood was given to men to give them something to do :) That womens roles as mothers and care takers is so divine that they had to give men something so they would feel usefull. It was a joke, but in a way it is some what true. I think men and women have different roles in church, but I appercaite those differences. I don't like that they are holding something akin to a demenstration or protest in church. I feel like we get enough flack from people outside of the church. I am trying to be understanding, but I just don't really get it.
Anyways, just thought I would comment :)
I happened across commentaries from Europe where guns are, with few exceptions, only available for military and law enforcement. Murders are far less common than in the U.S., and mass killings by mentally ill persons almost non-existent. The gist: What's with the Americans who think assault rifles are for sport? And who believe the way to protect yourself from crazy people with guns it to be sure you have guns of your own? Maybe the heartbreak and prayers will lead us to swallow our pride a bit and learn something from our friends across the Atlantic.
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