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Touchy, sensitive subjects need to be looked at logically, not only because I’m a high functioning autistic who sees the world in a very logical sense, but also because logic helps us separate out emotional responses.
Little in life is black and white and we all work hard to see and understand the grey areas, but on the subject of gun control, I don’t see any grey area.
From a truly logical sense, a gun cannot kill a person, no matter what opinion you hold in the gun debate.
A firearm does not have:
- the ability to concoct a scheme to kill others,
- the ability to aim itself at a person(s),
- the ability to pull its own trigger.
We see a rash of hate crimes. People shot and killed simply for being different than the person holding the gun.
Since when has being different from someone been grounds for killing them? Last time I checked, we’re all different from others. Going with that logic, we should all be shot and killed since we’re all different from others. Right?
Wrong!
People kill people. We’ve heard the phrase from the time we were kids, but it needed repeating. People consciously pick up a gun, they get in their car and drive to buy ammunition, they load the magazine, point it at people and pull the trigger.
Are some of them mentally ill? Absolutely. Are they all mentally ill? Absolutely not! So what makes people purchase firearms and ammo and then concoct a scheme to carry out their nefarious plot?
I honestly have no idea. My brain doesn’t function in that manner. I’ve never woken up and thought, “Man. I’d sure like to shoot a bunch of people.” In fact, my brain works in the exact opposite way.
As an autism advocate who works with those high school age and up, my work focuses on bringing together different people, so they can understand each other, accept one another, and co-exist in a neurodiverse society.
What’s a neurodiverse society? It’s one where people with various neurological makeups can come together as one.
If it can be done on a neurological level, why can’t the same be done on a socioeconomic, racial, religious, territorial or any other level where people can’t tolerate another simply because of who they are, what color their skin is, what they believe to be right or wrong or what deity they worship.
The answer is that it absolutely can be done and should be done, but that will only happen if we, as a society, want it to. As we’ve all seen on the news over these past few days/weeks/months, some of us don’t want to put in the effort to change this situation. We don’t necessarily like things the way they are, but it’s not my job to fix it, so let someone else do it.
Too many of us give lip service and say that we want to change, but how many of us are going out there and doing something to make change happen?
America wants to be great again, there’s no doubt about that. Are we going to get there following the lead of our current president? Doubtful, but we need to have the guts to stand up for what we know is right, not give in to hate speech, and not let the pro-gun crowd get in our heads about all shooters being mentally ill.
If we sit back with the mindset that the other person will handle it, we’ll be in for a long, long wait. Why? Because the other guy is doing the same thing and waiting for you to step up to the plate. So what are you going to do about it?
The bottom line? If you don’t like someone because they’re different than you in some way, they don’t have a problem. You do.
Again I ask, what are you going to do about it? Hopefully, the answer isn’t picking up a gun or some other weapon and hurting those different than you, because guess what? You’re different than them and what if they have the same mindset as you do?
Instead, why not try to learn about that person(s) and their culture so you can then make an informed decision as to whether you want to stay and deal with them or if you want to isolate yourself from society. The harsh reality is the only way to avoid dealing with people different than you is to stay away from everyone.
If you don’t like your current situation you could just pack up and move somewhere else where you’ll find a similar situation with someone else you don’t like, but that’s just the same problem with a different name.
In my experience, once a hater, always a hater. I’m not expecting us to all gather together to sing Kum By Yah or hold hands around the globe and share a Coke and a smile, but a little respect and understanding for our fellow man isn’t too much to ask. Is it?
Embrace diversity. It’s nt as scary as you may think.
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#StopRacism
Tuesdays at 8 pm Eastern Time/5 pm Pacific
This group—#StopRacism—will identify some of the ways in which racism manifests itself in our institutions and our communities, and how this is reinforced, both economically and culturally. We’ll then talk about how to remove that reinforcement and support, in order to make racism, in a word, “unprofitable.”
You will meet other people who care about racism, and learn together a common language. You’ll hear stories and history. You’ll form a community of activists that can create change. And you’ll learn how to mobilize other activists and become a leader in the conversation yourself.
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Photo credit: Photo courtesy Pixabay and Unsplash