Eliniminating Gun Violence

ELIMINATING GUNS, said some conservative Christian minister, or something to that effect, will not stop gun violence. Mass murder is caused by a lack of God in the heart. In other words, is he saying that eliminating guns won't eliminate gun violence? How can you use a gun, if you don't have one? Anger and hatred and alienation cause gun violence, and having God in your heart does not eliminate any of those, nor does it prevent gun violence. Many a gun is fired in anger by many a Christian. Eliminating anger, hatred, and violence might be better accomplished by inclusion in human communities, a decent standard of living, fulfilling work, and happy relationships with people and animals. Obviously, having God in one's heart doesn't hurt, unless one happens to believe that God is telling one to commit mass murder, as often happens. If and when god tells one to commit mass murder, one, obviously, would be better off to not have God in one's heart. If one is misunderstanding God, its better to not listen to God, or anyone else, than to misunderstand them. Good health helps, especially mental and spiritual. This can be accomplished by atheists as well as monotheists. In England and Australia, they eliminated guns, and gun violence, and violence in general were greatly reduced, almost eliminated. Gun advocates predictably but falsely claim that the opposite is true. Guns don't kill people, people kill people, they smugly say. True, perhaps, but guns certainly help. We can't eliminate people, but we can, over time, eliminate guns from widespread ownership by the public, particularly assault rifles and hand guns. Background and mental health checks should be mandatory, plus banning assault rifles, again, which worked well for ten years, but was repealed by republicans. Believing that religion is the answer, or that video games cause gun violence is pseudo science. People become angry and alienated when they are isolated from society. Unjust treatment is a cause of anger and alienation. And, of course, mental illness is a key factor. Everybody is mentally ill, at one time or another, just as everybody is physically ill, at one time or another. If we render unto Caesar, and give unto the poor, like Jesus says, gun violence will be greatly reduced, because there will be less poverty, anger, and alienation, and a much greater connection to the human community, for everyone. Conservative Christian republicans are staunchly opposed to taxes other than extremely low taxes, and they do not believe in welfare without work. And that, dear reader, is why we in America do not do a whole helluva lotta rendering unto Caesar and giving unto the poor, or, at least, not nearly enough of it. We could do much, much more, to reduce anger and alienation which comes with poverty. the ministers who say that we need God in our hearts seem somehow to be opposed to rendering unto Caesar and giving unto the poor. they want God, so they say, but not the message of Jesus in our hears and mind and politics, because, after all, they are conservative Christian Republicans.