I’ve never really had much respect for
wishy washy people. As testament to my own weaknesses, my tolerance level for
such people has never been what it should be. People who float from camp to
camp, belief to belief, opinion to opinion—not because they’re adapting their
stances upon serious contemplation but because their inherently too lazz to do
the required research to form their own thoughts—bug me. In other words, I don’t
like sheep.
I do respect people who take a stand.
People who put their foot down and defend that stand. People who defend their
position. Who aim to prove their point—as long as that stand isn’t a knee-jerk,
hastily conceived one that refuses to take reality into account.
Hey, I’m as much of a knee-jerk (or just
jerk, for that matter) reactionary as there might be, but I like to think I put
in at least a respectable amount of thought and research in on the given subject
at hand prior to popping off. I like to think I’ve done my homework before
spewing forth. I like to think I know enough to know that if I don’t have a
solid foundation about a topic, I shut up until I do. Not always, but I try. I’ve
been in enough arguments and debates to know that you can only bullshit so long
before someone smarter and more adept comes along and calls your bluff. When
that happens, you better be prepared with a better reply than “just because” to
back up your claim.
The topic of guns is front and center
these days, as it should be. Everyone has an opinion it seems. Everyone has a
stance. Many of them are set in stone. What’s alarming to me is that many of
them were based upon a reality that excited decades and decades ago. This
history is not the present.
On the topic of guns, I have to say I’ve
offered up a few of my own knee-jerk reactions in the past several days,
reactions primarily fueled on years of tears and frustration and anger
concerning needless deaths. I’ve also read more knee-jerk reaction than I can
count. I’ve had my fill of knee-jerk reactions, especially those lacking a wide
scope of the issue. I can’t count the number of comments I’ve read and heard in
the past week wanting to know why “honest” and “decent” and “law-abiding” gun
owners should have to give up their guns. Why a few “evil” people or “criminals”
or “f*cking idiots” should spoil things for the rest of us. This black-and-white,
all-or-nothing sentiment drives me crazy. Some are so misguided and off-putting
and defensive in tone, it’s difficult to even read them or take them seriously.
The same can be said of those on the other side of the fence who are deaf to
any countering opinion.
But there are those who have formed
opinions filled with well-informed and thoughtful words. Thus, for every tweet
I read and saw reported earlier this week that lambasted our “n*gger” president
for having the gall to interrupt their Sunday Night Football game in place of
his speech at a memorial service in Newtown, I’m relieved and happy to also
know there are those taking the gun debate seriously and approaching it with
the respect and compassion it deserves.
It’s been a long, difficult, strange
week since so many kids were taken so, so early, but I been pleasantly
surprised along the way. Take, for example, the completely encouraging exchange
I had with a 19-year-old or so kid that marked perhaps the most intelligent and
even-keeled conversation I’ve had since the Newtown tragedy. A kid who is a gun-owning,
avid hunter, mind you. A kid passionate about the subject and grounded and
stately in expressing his thoughts and beliefs. I don’t agree with them or
maybe even respect them, but damn it, I respect him.
And that’s the lesson I think I’ve
learned in the days following Sandy Creek: Opposition to my beliefs is
everywhere, but not all of it comes from ill-informed knee-jerk reactionaries
more concerned with making their point than also making a concerted effort to hear and respect the point of others. In recent days, I’ve
been prone to want to let my anger and sadness do my talking. I realizing that’s
not going to cut it if I want things to improve. I'm ready to fight for my stance, but I'm convinced I fighting responsibly is the way to proceed.
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