The latest school shooting in Nashville fast-forwarded me from the shock after Columbine to the repeat-trauma of today and the diabolical agenda at the root of school shootings.
It starts with the unborn child.
Liberals trust woman on choice because child-bearing and child-rearing are incredibly rewarding and unbelievably challenging. The blessings of having children, the emotional devastation of losing a pregnancy, the pressures of raising children, the hell of abuse, the fear of a lapse in judgement and medical concerns weigh on women every day.
A vast majority of present-day conservatives are unbending about protecting life in the womb. They are adamant that a woman cannot have the right to choose. The rationale is multifold: life is precious; it is God's will that we protect life; the fetus has rights too. Their leadership is succeeding in stacking the judiciary and changing abortion laws in their favor.
The conservative focus on the unborn child - however noble it seems - begins to unravel after she is born.
The baby comes into this world and goes to school in Columbine, Virginia Tech, Newtown, Parkland, Uvalde, Tucson, Nashville, Red Lake or any town in any state and on any day she can become a victim of the 377 mass school shootings - and counting - in the USA since 1999.
Let that sink in: three hundred and seventy seven in 24 years, 15.7 a year, 1.3 per month, over 300,000 kids impacted by school shootings since Columbine.
Horror has no better definition!
The precious life the conservatives passionately care for before birth has a non-trivial likelihood of being irreparably impacted or lost forever due to easy access to guns. "Protect life until birth, then protect the gun" - that is the diabolical agenda hiding behind God and the constitution.
Can you, for a nanosecond, imagine any god, avatar, messiah tolerating school shootings because of the need to form a militia? Yet, in many religious houses of today, second amendment preservation takes precedence over the wellbeing of our children. These people of faith rail about the loss of the unborn child while refusing to protect the child who is alive!
This bumper sticker I saw a decade ago perfectly encapsulates the dystopian reality of the pro-god, pro-gun, pro-life lobby.
...especially the ones with weapons.
I pray the universe will bless little kids everywhere in abundance and keep them safe. May we find the courage to do what mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts, and uncles are supposed to do - protect the young ones before another generation falls prey. Amen.