Redstate
Goodwill to Men
By Erick Erickson
December 16th, 2012
It was
as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
On Friday in Connecticut, more than two dozen, mostly children, were
gunned down in an act of evil.
I once read an account that young men killed on the beaches of
Normandy, as they lay dying, called out for their mothers. I tear up at
even the glancing thought of the cries of the children in Connecticut
and dare not take the mental walk down that road.
Children cry out for their mommy and their daddy. Young men on the
battlefield, as death comes over them, do the same. It is a natural
instinct at life’s end for the young. Just the thought of the children
crying out for their moms and dads as they died overwhelms the senses
of those of us far removed from the tragedy. It is an instinct, though,
that we should confront.
Instead, two days removed from the horror of Friday, we are beginning
again the debate and confrontations about gun control. It is a debate
worth having and, whether we want to or not, we will have it. Much, if
any, of what will be proposed would not have stopped the massacre.
But though the proposals that will soon be most seriously considered
would most likely not have prevented what happened, men and women of
goodwill — and most are — will make the proposals because it lets them
feel in control. People want to do something. People, acting
corporately, want to legislate and regulate because it is, next to
election of leaders, the most powerful act of a democracy.
The efforts, even if they are successful, will not stop this cycle of
violence.
Discussions of gun control are easier to have than discussions about
mental health. But they too are easier to have than those about the
collapse of the American family. History and multiple studies show that
the most stable foundation of a society is a two parent nuclear
household with multiple children.
In the past year we have talked more and more about the rise of singles
in this country, following the rise of single parents. Because much of
the question of what it means to be single involves the discussion of
choices, we cannot have a conversation about the nuclear family. The
only conclusion that would benefit our society would be a conclusion
that renders too many of the choices made by twenty and thirty
somethings in our society today invalid.
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