Can we please somehow get this guy elected president?

[Anselm]

I'm afraid that on this side of the Atlantic it just seems senseless to protect a right to carry lethal weapons when that results in huge numbers of deaths. So what if it's an American tradition? Thirty-odd people a day are shot in the U.S.; that's almost inconceivable to any other country in the world. The police in the U.S. shot and killed more people in the first 24 days of 2015 than the British police did in the preceding 24 YEARS. Three people were shot and killed by the police in Stockton, CA, in the first five months of that year. One person was shot and killed by the police in Iceland (which has a similar sized population) in the preceding 71 YEARS. that's just shootings by the police, not to mention those by actual criminals!

of course 'firearms aren't intrinsically evil', but take them away and the people who are can't use them. It's quite simple.

As for healthcare, yes it would be much more complex in a country with a much larger population but a) that's no reason not to try, and b) that's not the reason used by most people in the U.S. who object.

[Ash Wednesday]

Sorry Pham, I started to make this off topic. Please continue.

Edited August 3, 2016 by Ash Wednesday
Bad bad bad Meh!

[LittleWaySoul]

5 hours ago, PhuturePriest said:

Vote me and I will solve all of these problems. I have the solutions, and unlike these petty politicians, I will get them done without congress' help or consent.

Just send three easy payments of $1,000,0000 into my account beginning tomorrow and ending this weekend (PM me for account details) and I will be your political savior. As proof of my greatness, I will even negotiate with those who can't afford that amount in such a short time frame and instead opt for twelve easy payments of $500,000 over a period of two weeks.

 

3 hours ago, Anselm said:

I'm afraid that on this side of the Atlantic it just seems senseless to protect a right to carry lethal weapons when that results in huge numbers of deaths. So what if it's an American tradition? Thirty-odd people a day are shot in the U.S.; that's almost inconceivable to any other country in the world. The police in the U.S. shot and killed more people in the first 24 days of 2015 than the British police did in the preceding 24 YEARS. Three people were shot and killed by the police in Stockton, CA, in the first five months of that year. One person was shot and killed by the police in Iceland (which has a similar sized population) in the preceding 71 YEARS. that's just shootings by the police, not to mention those by actual criminals!

of course 'firearms aren't intrinsically evil', but take them away and the people who are can't use them. It's quite simple.

While I tend to agree with most of this, and think we would be better off with less guns here, @Amppax makes a good point. A Constitutional right is nowhere near the same thing as an American tradition. It's part of our law and Bill of Rights, right up there with freedom of speech, religion, assembly, etc. Whether or not it should be there is a valid question, but the very fact that it is there makes it extremely unlikely that it will be changed or that guns will be taken away any time soon. Legally, it is considered a fundamental right of US citizens to own firearms. As Amp said, this won't change in the near future.

Other methods of restricting access to guns, on the other hand, are a different story. I personally hope the gun control discussion continues and we find ways to standardize regulation on the sale of guns across state borders and at both stores and gun shows. 

[Anselm]

But the right itself is enshrined in an amendment; written constitutions can be and are changed. It is a human construction not a divinely ordained document, so if it does not serve the people it should be changed. The numbers of people killed by guns in the U.S. is horrific, it's scandalous and it is surely a Christian duty to work to reduce it by any morally justifiable means.

[PhuturePriest]

15 hours ago, Anselm said:

But the right itself is enshrined in an amendment; written constitutions can be and are changed. It is a human construction not a divinely ordained document, so if it does not serve the people it should be changed. The numbers of people killed by guns in the U.S. is horrific, it's scandalous and it is surely a Christian duty to work to reduce it by any morally justifiable means.

Sadly, no doubt due to Americanism and American protestantism whose identity was born from America and whose theology is inextricably linked with America, many protestants view the Constitution as divinely inspired. Glenn Beck said verbatim that the Declaration and the Constitution are divinely inspired by God. Ergo, guns are a God-given right, and restricting them for any means is hindering God's divine mandate to have all the guns you want.

[Anselm]

Urgh.

[KnightofChrist]

15 hours ago, PhuturePriest said:

Sadly, no doubt due to Americanism and American protestantism whose identity was born from America and whose theology is inextricably linked with America, many protestants view the Constitution as divinely inspired. Glenn Beck said verbatim that the Declaration and the Constitution are divinely inspired by God. Ergo, guns are a God-given right, and restricting them for any means is hindering God's divine mandate to have all the guns you want.

 

16 minutes ago, Anselm said:

Urgh.

Not that you two would care, but there's a pretty strong historical case that the right to bear arms is profoundly Catholic.

http://www.davekopel.com/Religion/Catholic-Second-Amendment.pdf

[Amppax]

33 minutes ago, KnightofChrist said:

 

Not that you two would care, but there's a pretty strong historical case that the right to bear arms is profoundly Catholic.

http://www.davekopel.com/Religion/Catholic-Second-Amendment.pdf

Huh. The thesis of that seems quite a bit like John Courtney Murray's thought regarding the US and Catholicism. Which is interesting, because he doesn't cite Murray at all. 

I'll take a look at it later, thanks Knight. 

[Nihil Obstat]

Posting here to remind myself to read that when not at work.

[Socrates]

On 8/2/2016 at 11:22 AM, Maggyie said:

In their platform it says:

"We oppose the participation of public agencies in legal vices, such as gambling and the sake of recreational drugs and alcohol." So, reading closer, apparently they just don't want the government involved in that "vice."

I don't want the federal government involved in most things.

[dominicansoul]

On August 2, 2016 at 5:54 PM, Anselm said:

You know, I don't understand American elections. I know this is a huge generalisation, but the impression given is that Catholics will support anyone who opposes abortion, regardless of their other policies. If you care so much about human life get rid of the guns and provide free health care to those who can't afford it on their own.

That's because abortion kills more humans than guns, more humans than cancer and heart disease combined.