Letter to the Editor: Gun Control

 

By Rev. Darrell Mitchell

Edmund Burke once said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” To me, those are great challenging words, that you and I need to hear! We have a lot of moral concerns in our country right now. Can we work together in fixing our moral concerns?

In the Bible, Isaiah 1 and verse 18, it reads, “Come, let us reason with one another, says the Lord.” So, Americans, with different points of view, let us work together in fixing our differences. This is our challenge today!

  What are a few of our moral concerns? School shootings, drug abuse, mental health, poverty, never ending wars, immigrants to our country. There are numerous other moral issues too.

Right now, I want to focus on our right to own a gun. The second amendment says every American has the right to own a gun.

America is the number one nation in the world that owns more guns than any other country. For every 100 people in the United States, there are 120.5 guns. That second amendment, power politics, and the National Rifle Association, has made it legal for Americans to own a gun. The original second amendment was a gun with one bullet in it.

The United States has 80.5 percent more killings than England and Wales who have just 4 percent who die from gun violence. What does that say about our right to own a gun?

Right now, we desperately need God and people of faith, to bring about changes in our country. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we pray, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

People of faith and other people of concern, yes, you can bring about the changes that need to take place!  So let us work together, develop a plan, and bring about the change that we want to see in our country. Let us get people elected in our Congress and Senate, who believe, in bringing about these changes, bringing about democracy in our country. So come on people of faith, let us come together, listen to one another and bring about the changes that God and Americans want to see. Edmund Burke has said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

 

Rev. Darrell Mitchell, of Marshalltown, is a retired United Methodist Church pastor and past Joint Oversight Committee member for Iowa Peace Network.  This was sent to a few newspapers as well, as a letter to the editor.