For the past 10 days now, the media has been all over the shooting that took place in Tucson, Arizona. In case you missed it and just want some of the basic facts, here's a good place to start with a regional Arizona-area newspapers recap of the events… http://azstarnet.com/news/local/article_88b4b436-1b53-11e0-8354-001cc4c002e0.html
The shooting was significant though because it brought to the nation's attention two major issues: gun control and political rhetoric. It created all sorts of stories in the news and Obama also delivered a very uniting speech which was worth noting. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2042201,00.html
And of course, in every tragedy there is also heroism and this story that contrasts the killer with the man who saved Rep. Giffords is one that truly reminds us that not all is bad in this world! Amidst the darkness, there is light and amidst the bad, there is good!
There have been countless shootings over the last decade and almost each one of them features a mentally disturbed individual armed with a gun who then goes on to do something crazy. The question remains how do these people get guns? How are guns sold and why are they so readily available? I know that the Constitution gives the right to bear arms but perhaps that right was relevant at a different time, in a different society. Today when we have such an extensive police department and so many other peaceful ways to serve justice, do common citizens really need to own guns? The victim at the center of the shooting was a Democratic congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. I really like this opinion taken from the National Geographic that raises similar questions that are really worth thinking about…
The other major issue that came to the foreground as a result of the tragedy was a closer look at the political dialogue that we have today. A democracy sustains itself because of open, civil dialogue. Such things are possible only when people are assured that they can freely hold certain views and not endanger their lives because of it. Representative Giffords was a woman who had certain views and defended them. She was criticized by her opponents for these views but were these criticisms inciting people to violence? http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2011/01/10/was-violent-political-rhetoric-responsible-for-tucson-shooting
More generally, has the polarization of politics gone too far? Nowadays it seems like you're either on one side or the other, Democratic or Republican, liberal or conservative, left or right… there is no middle ground! There is no civil place where all people can come together and form a consensus. Worse yet, it often seems that people aren't even interested in TRYING to find a center ground. Such radicalization is dangerous to our democracy and we have already seen its destructive forces with religion. Has America become an uncivil society? These 10 opinions compiled by Time are worth reading to get different perspectives… http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2042134,00.html -
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