Scott Bruun: Gun Laws, Politics, and Hearts of Darkness
Wednesday, October 07, 2015
Truisms all.
Yet maybe the most accurate overview of politics came from a more contemporary figure. William F. Buckley, a man who spent his entire life as a public political philosopher, surprised friends later in his life by disclosing that he never loved politics. Buckley found politics “awash in sordidness and banality.”
Yes it is. And while it does occasionally deliver policies that improve human lives, politics will never fix the human condition.
For those of us who gravitate toward politics, for those of us who work in politics, for those of us who depend on politics, last week’s carnage in Roseburg must bring pause. And humility.
There are no political answers for Roseburg.
In our world, given the horrors of Roseburg, Aurora and Sandy Hook, it’s understandable that millions of Americans call for more guns laws. It’s understandable that people believe if something is broke, if something is not working, than a change in laws – through politics - is needed to fix it.
In his genuine anguish, President Obama embraced this mindset last week when he prescribed the “politicization” of gun issues.
At the same time, it’s understandable that millions of other Americans reject the notion that more gun laws will solve the problem. Restrictive gun laws have been increasing over the years, after all - not decreasing. Oregon, as one example, has some of the nation’s most restrictive gun laws. Yet gun crimes continue.
Given this, it’s understandable why people believe that more laws will do little except impinge on the rights – and perhaps exacerbate the vulnerabilities - of law-abiding citizens. Thus understandable why people work - through politics – to defend gun rights.
Regardless of the position on guns we find ourselves drawn to, or repelled by, we all share the heartbreak and anguish of Roseburg. We all want “answers,” as they say, and we all want this insanity to end.
It’s time we look past politics for those answers.
The question of Roseburg, Aurora, Sandy Hook and others is bigger than politics. It’s bigger than guns. It’s even bigger than the issue of mental health, although radical changes in our approach to mental health must be part of the answer.
In looking at Roseburg, are we now prepared to acknowledge the growing ‘heart of darkness’ within the human condition? Can we acknowledge the real issue of human brokenness, and the very real evil which feeds upon that brokenness like a parasite? Finally, are we ready to acknowledge that human brokenness - and evil which feeds upon it – is exacerbated by cultural and societal trends? That human hearts are darkened by trends which have eroded faith, family and community?
For whatever twisted motives or personal demons, there will always be men compelled by death and destruction. Evil is real, and it’s immortal. People have usually acknowledged this. Just as people have usually acknowledged that the way to limit evil, the way to keep evil from taking root, is to maximize faith, family and community. In fact, many of us grew up believing that our nation was in many ways built upon protecting and celebrating those fundamental institutions.
We need not go into too much detail to see how those institutions are now suffering: Divorce and broken families are rampant and multi-generational. Attendance at religious services, and even belief in God, has fallen dramatically in recent years. And our consumerist, self-gratifying, violence-and-vice-glorifying culture erodes the pillars of community.
Is it then reasonable to assume that cultural atrophy feeds the social pathologies we all loath? Does cultural decay and the erosion of faith, family and community heighten the problem? Does it intensify mental illness? Does it fuel lone-wolf anger and destructive narcissism?
In other words, do we create sociopaths?
If so, there is no button to push or law to pass that provides an easy fix. “Politicizing” the issue will not fix the issue. The problem is now generational. Shakespeare (channeling Scripture) wrote “the sins of the father are to be laid upon the children.” Even if somehow we all agreed on the cause of the problem, the solution may take generations.
In the meantime, there can be no excuse for those who perpetrate these crimes.
Yet we must also ask ourselves “what if?” What if, for example, there had been just one more available father in the life of a deeply-troubled son? What if there had been one more faith-based mentor? Or one more community-based role model?
How many more people would be alive and thriving today?
What if faith, family and community were expanding rather than contracting? What if more of us - through faith, family and community - were looking out instead of in? What if, indeed.
Related Slideshow: The Victims of the Umpqua Community College Shooting
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