This for My \u201cGun Toting Friends\u201d<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve noticed that Facebook is making me crazy. Many of my friends, often former students, are true believers in the Second Amendment. They have semi-automatic weapons, and they believe they have a right to them. I don\u2019t agree with that, and I\u2019m happy to argue the point with them.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s not about civil discourse anymore. It\u2019s about energizing your side by putting up Facebook posts that attacks the other side. Some are funny, especially the one that posts a picture of a car jack laid on its side, and says, \u201cpost this picture of an AR-15 to make you gun control friends crazy.\u201d I bet it works.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s a lot more that just don’t make sense to me. The kids of Parkland High School, radicalized by the experience of having their friends die, have stepped into the spotlight. They are mobilizing students, and adults, across the country; and they are calling for a ban on assault weapons. Their experience gives them the right to have an opinion.<\/p>\n
But there are many, many posts that denigrates their right to an opinion, they are \u201cjust kids,\u201d and even question their validity (one post claims that one of the kids is a \u201ccrisis actor\u201d that goes from national crisis to crisis to push a pro gun control view.) As a social studies teacher, it was always one of my goals to teach my students how to argue for their view. As a teacher, back in the day, I would take whatever side needed help in our classroom discussions. The one rule: you can\u2019t argue the person, just the facts and opinions. When you drop to the \u201cyou\u2019re stupid\u201d argument \u2013 you\u2019ve lost!<\/p>\n
Now as a retired teacher, I have put my political and social views out for public view. I must have been pretty good at hiding my real opinions, because lots of folks are surprised at what I believe. But sometimes I want to go back to that classroom, and remind folks that if you can\u2019t argue facts and opinions, you must not have a very strong argument.<\/p>\n
I know that guns are a powerful issue in our country. I know when \u201cmy side\u201d says, \u201cwe aren\u2019t going to stop hunters,\u201d they miss the point. Many gun advocates hold that having guns is a means of defending their democracy. It ain\u2019t about deer, it\u2019s about our society. That\u2019s a discussion we all need to have. We (my side) can\u2019t just laugh them off as \u201cblack helicopter\u201d folks, we must understand that their views are real, and the feeling, legitimate.<\/p>\n
But attacking the kids at Parkland, or those that fear government crackdown, or anyone who has the courage to step out and voice their views, is just a form of bullying. We live in the same country, we need to be able to talk through the issue. That\u2019s the first step to reaching some consensus in our world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"