Reasonable Gun Laws

After the horrible tragedy in Aurora, CO this past week, the intertubes are astir with opinions about gun laws.  Here are two links I read today that I think are really reasonable and well thought out.

The first is from the NY Times op-ed, a column on the long, difficult road that those who push for stronger gun control laws face.

The second is from the actor Jason Alexander, best known for his role as George Costanza on Seinfeld.  His piece is so balanced, well-thought out, and reasonable that I was honestly surprised that it came from an actor.

I don't agree with every point these two have made, but I can't say it any better than they have.  We have completely unreasonable gun laws in this country.  We need to find some middle ground that respects constitutional rights and yet makes it considerably more difficult for kooks to obtain military weapons and mass kill innocent people at a movie theater.

book review link

Nothing really to add here, just want to point my reader(s?) to this book review "When sex Goes 'Grey'" in Relevant.  Her points about abuse toward women should have everyone concerned about this.

THIS GUY.

Incredible, inspiring guy.

Reblog: "Name-calling is rhetorical pornography" from CNN Belief blog

Today at the CNN Belief blog, three evangelical Christian leaders have written up a fantastic post on name-calling.  They begin with the old statement we've all probably heard as children "sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me", and reject that completely.  Words matter.  Names do hurt.  They then go on to state very clearly that the name-calling that seems so prevalent in our popular culture these days is  inconsistent with the Christian message.  I like that at the end, they make the connection that not only must we find "nicer words", but we must find "a transformed perspective", which is based on "the innate humanity and dignity owed every individual".  It is not just words that must be kind, but attitude, our internal orientation toward others that we disagree with or don't like, that has to be fixed.

Christians and Political Parties

Amnesia, Denial, and The Family Research Council - News

The above its a blog post by Jonathan Merritt, an author and Baptist minister.  He says so much good stuff here, there really isn't much to add except "Amen!  Preach it, Preacher".