In fact there have been many more readers of that one post than of most of my other posts, due in large part to a reader copying the link of my blog and putting it on a firearms forum website! Woohoo!
Unfortunately some people have been much less than civil and moderate and I have been forced to delete the comments, report them as spam, and finally to moderate the comments put on the site.
All of this reminded me of reading Os Guinness' book, The Case for Civility some years ago. His words are so appropriate in today's polarized climate:
"It is time for Americans to reforge a civil public square, to wrest back the culture wars from the domineering pundits and activists who have become the warlords of American public life — and then to debate such important issues as the uniqueness of humanity, the character of life and death, the importance of truth, the relationship between virtue and freedom, and what the historian Gertrude Himmelfarb described as "the collapse of ethical principles and habits, the loss of respect for authorities and institutions, the breakdown of the family, the decline of civility, the vulgarization of high culture and the degradation of popular culture." ~ Os Guinness, The Case for Civility
Hi Brian,
ReplyDeleteThey arrested two guys at SPL a week ago for carrying toy guns, those that look like the real thing! As you know they are very strict here and i support your comments whole heartedly about banning assault weapons and (for me) all guns in general, but like in South Africa, people think it is a right to be able to protect themselves. It is a right to be protected by policemen who have guns and the authority to exercise it! Like in South Africa, carrying guns by "law abiding" citizens does more to propagate violence than to cull it.
cheers,
Michael