God, Guns and Our Constitutional Right to Cling to Both of Them
When Aaron Alexis massacred twelve people at the Washington D.C. Navy Yard it was an all too familiar tragedy in America. There is no way to write or even express the sadness for the families of those victims or for those who were wounded in the senseless tragedy. However, what is also too familiar in this country is the political and media posturing that takes place right after this type of attack. The political agendas that immediately followed these shootings and the voices that came out in protest for political gain was disgusting.
A recent example of this type of grotesque posturing recently came from Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen. He used the aftermath of the Navy Yard’s shootings to complain about both Republicans and Democrats and the roadblock of getting more votes in the U.S. Senate to pass more gun control legislation. He blamed it on the culture of “guns and the Bible (or God)” and the “right-wingers”.
Here’s his brief interview on MSNBC:
Representative Cohen seems to be completely out of touch with reality. For any politician to blame a culture of “guns and the Bible” as the reasoning more votes cannot be passed in the Senate for gun control is a blatant misunderstanding of what it means to be an American. The people Mr. Cohen represents from the state of Tennessee need to understand just how single-minded his comments are regarding this type of legislation. So the following is a break down of just where this so-called culture of “guns and the Bible” hangs in the balance of our Constitution.
GUNS
It seems far too easy to make the recent tragedies about the violence of guns and how there should be more control (even though most of the shootings happened in “controlled” gun-free zones). It is important to frame how important the issue of guns is in relation to The Bill of Rights and the rights of the people. The Second Amendment clearly states that the people of this country have the right to own guns (legally) and cannot be infringed or violated in any way. The reason behind this amendment as created by our Founders was so the control could remain in the hands of the people, not the Government.
What Mr. Cohen clearly does not understand is that both Democrats and Republicans know that passing more gun control is a violation of the Second Amendment. Defining this issue as “right-wing” is simply a false statement. Gun owners make up a demographic of all voters both Democrat, Republican and the moderates on both sides as well.
Passing more gun control is giving more control of guns to the government. Do we really want to become a nation where we give up more freedom of our gun rights to a government who is increasingly gaining more control over its people? The Founders were all too familiar with this type of scenario and knew what could happen if guns were out of the hands of the people. We cannot let these horrific tragedies be used by our elected politicians to redefine our Constitution.
GOD
In the above interview, Rep. David Corn mentioned the infamous statement of Barack Obama when he referred to certain people as those “who cling to their guns or religion”, during a 2008 campaign speech. This type of rhetoric is typical of the extreme left. Cohen’s response to Corn’s reference was that guns and the Bible were to blame for the lack of votes in the Senate. Apparently, there is a “cultural” phenomenon of people clinging to their guns and Bibles. Again, this shows a lack of judgment by Mr. Cohen on the demographic of voters who not only own guns but who value their religion in this country. He seems to imply that all the religious folks are on the right side of the political aisle. I wonder how that makes his constituents feel who value their religion, belief in God and love the biblical scriptures as well.
The First Amendment clearly states that Congress cannot make any laws against a person’s desire to practice their belief in God or in their religion. What is so important about this amendment by the Founders is it protects not only our belief in how we worship God but in the very precedence of who we give allegiance to. The First Amendment is the cornerstone of our religious belief that our rights come from God not man. All laws created by our government will not overshadow the fact that the freedoms that we have are from God and God alone.
Isolating God in this way to reference “right-wingers” as those who only “cling to” the Bible or God, is a marginalization that is used for political gain. This country was founded on religious liberty. It was this freedom that brought immigrants from many countries around the world in search of this freedom of God-given rights not rights handed down from any government.
GOD AND GUNS
Rep. Cohen stated, “They are hard core Republicans, and this means more to them. I think their guns are right there next to their Bibles. I’m not sure which they find more important to them.”
Is it hard core Republicans that are restricting the vote in the Senate? After all, the majority (Democrats) are the ones that don’t have enough votes to pass their own amendment. Cohen’s blame game is simply untrue. The fact is people do cling to their guns and their religion but not because they are Republican or Democrat and want to somehow hinder a vote in the Senate. They cling to these because they are Americans who understand their Constitutional Rights. To let go of either one is to give up more power into the hands of the government.
Marginalizing any demographic of voters for political gain is despicable. It’s time we as citizens of this country (no matter what side of the aisle) start realizing that those we vote in office need to stop using tragedies and deaths of innocent victims to further any form of legislation that takes away the rights of “We The People”. Clinging to your guns and/or your Bible are clearly a part of America’s Constitution under the Bill of Rights. Don’t let politicians marginalize you because you have a better understanding of the Constitution than they do.
