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3 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Our View: Money makes the county go round, apparently ... Fly fishing isn't the only draw for popular breast cancer recovery program ... Talent man accused of abusing teen he met on Facebook ... Our View: Money makes the county go round, apparently ... Fly fishing isn't the only draw for popular breast cancer recovery program ... Talent man accused of abusing teen he met on Facebook ... GUEST OPINION Guest Opinion: Coming to terms with our society's culture of violence By The Rev. Dr. Anthony Hutchinson MailTribune.com By The Rev. Dr. Anthony Hutchinson Posted Oct. 4, 2015 @ 12:01 am By The Rev. Dr. Anthony Hutchinson Posted Oct. 4, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> Horrible news from Roseburg: 10 dead and seven wounded at Umpqua Community College; rumors that professing Christians were singled out. My prayers and compassion are with the dead and their friends and families. It raises once more the specter of gun violence, this time very close to home. The Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said after the Clackamas Mall and Sandy Hook shootings, “Far too many lives have been cut short or maimed by … gun violence … each year … more than 3,000 children in the United States. The victims of … these shootings are members of our families … congregations, and communities …[T]he moment has arrived when our nation must come together to ask the difficult questions … about how we can begin to break the cycles of violence …” The fact is — we are a violent society. We glorify violence in our arts and video games, have movies that tell stories of the good guys blowing the bad guys away, use armed force as a major component of our foreign policy and proclaim it in our political memes. And guns are an important part of this culture of violence. When the founders of this nation proposed a Bill of Rights in 1789, they were consciously imitating William and Mary’s 1689 English Bill of Rights: written limits on the powers of the sovereign protecting the people’s rights and freedoms. The English Bill guaranteed, among other things, the liberty of Protestants to have arms for self-defense within the rule of law, condemning deposed James II’s “causing several good subjects being Protestants to be disarmed at the same time when papists were both armed and employed contrary to law.” The American Bill of Rights included the “right to bear arms” because “a well regulated militia” was essential to a free state. Our national political process is currently held hostage to an extremely small minority of gun manufacturers and merchants, and gun lovers, who believe that the Second Amendment right is inviolable and absolute. The corrupting influence of money and resulting political bullying has made it virtually impossible to enact reasonable and thoughtful controls and limitations on this national scourge. Many today no longer see the right to arm oneself for self-protection as a contingent right that of necessity must be framed within the rule of law and regulation. At heart of the extreme fundamentalism of the gun rights lobby lies the assumption that violence is the ultimate fixer. Second Amendment fundamentalists and the sick young males (usually white) who commit such atrocities really are interested in guns without controls because guns are lethal weapons. They see them as giving them power over their own lives and those of others. That’s why there is such a bullying and threatening tone in much of the discourse on this. This issue provokes strong feelings, and others may differ from my perspective on this in good faith. When such a belief is grounded in a faith that violence or threat of violence overcomes the problems of this world and fixes what ails us and drives away what gives us fears, however, it is just plain wrong, and spells spiritual death. God calls us to peace, and mutual love and service. Jesus was an opponent of the Roman imperial state, but one who believed in nonviolent resistance. Jesus says, “be wise as snakes, but harmless as doves.” The Bill of Rights also includes the doctrine of powers, “reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” States and municipalities have the right and obligation to enact reasonable laws to frame and regulate our rights and enhance the safety and security of our people. I was raised in Eastern Washington, and love to hunt. I understand the safe and appropriate use of firearms. I support the Second Amendment when it is seen as part of a well-ordered rule of law. But my little hometown, Moses Lake, like Roseburg, also suffered from a horrendous school shooting back in 1996. We must do better to demand responsible gun use. Unless municipalities and states and, yes, the federal government, become willing to impose reasonable controls to deter this scourge and resist the siren call of the Second Amendment fundamentalists, the American people will eventually become so revolted that they will simply demand the repeal of the Second Amendment rather than continue suffering the increasingly frequent horrors that take place in its name. That would be unfortunate. The Rev. Dr. Anthony Hutchinson is rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Ashland. By The Rev. Dr. Anthony Hutchinson MailTribune.com By The Rev. Dr. Anthony Hutchinson Posted Oct. 4, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Comment or view comments Terms of Service /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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