Accountable

 I've been reflecting upon a memory when I was in elementary school. I believe it was 4^th grade. One of my peers was acting really rowdy and misbehaving, to the point it was disrupting the entire class. Many of the other students thought it was funny and encouraged the misbehaving behavior. I sat quietly, hoping it would settle down eventually. The teacher, appropriately fed up with everything that was going on, punished the entire class with no recess. I remember feeling so betrayed because I kept thinking, “But I didn’t do anything wrong, why should I get punished for the actions of one person?”

That sense of betrayal stayed with me through the rest of my childhood. And in many ways, was encouraged through the lens of our society. America values our individualism and even promotes it. I was never taught this explicitly, but I could see it on TV shows I watched, through the actions of adults around me, and even through the politics that were passed that my mother would talk about at home (often in the form of angry rants). And yet, my 4^th grade teacher went against this individual idolatry and didn’t just punish the one student but punished us all. I am sad to say that it took too long for me to realize the wisdom in her actions.

I want to be clear that I do not believe individualism to be a bad thing by itself. Our individual lives are sacred and should have rights. However, individualism that is absolute and idolized is dangerous. And it’s what killing our nation; too often in the form of gun violence.

I have heard the argument from gun owners whenever a violent act occurs involving one or a few people committing gun violence that they did not do anything wrong so why do people demand for gun reform (often thinking gun reform means their guns will be taken away and often reciting their individual right based on a loose interpretation of the 2^nd amendment).

I’m honestly not a fan of guns at all. I never want one in my living space, and I do not feel comfortable being in the presence of one. But gun reform is not taking all guns away. It’s about education. It’s about strong background checks. It’s about protecting the most vulnerable in our society.

I look toward other countries in the world who have stronger gun reform and the statistics reveal that gun violence is incredibly lower. Japan requires everyone to take all-day classes, written exams, and pass mental and drug tests. Japan has one of the lowest rates of gun crime in the world.

But it’s not just a difference in a person’s view of guns…it’s a culture that is based on community, not individualism.

I believe the issue of gun control comes down to our need to shift our focus toward what is best for the community, not the individual. When one person does something wrong, either a misbehaving kid or a person committing violence with a gun…we all must be held accountable. I must be held accountable for staying silence, even though I didn’t do anything. Our leaders must be held accountable, even if they didn’t do anything. Let us shift our thinking from the actions of one individual to the actions of ALL of us and protect all our citizens from any more unnecessary death and violence.

 

This is my prayer.