Diggs: Magic Won’t Stop Gun Violence; Action Will!

My Roslyn neighbor Lawrence Diggs is a deep thinker, but he’s no magical thinker. In his column in today’s Aberdeen American News, he mocks the “magical thinking” involved in the “thoughts and prayers” response to gun violence and other political issues:

One solution that is floated almost every time there is a mass shooting is the “thoughts and prayers” solution. This is insultingly magical thinking when the people are gunned down while in a church worshiping God.

What exactly should people be praying for? Should we pray that the NRA goes bankrupt or stop contributing to political campaigns? Should we pray that gun companies stop making guns? Should we pray that people stop voting for politicians that take money from the NRA? Do we need divine intervention for that? Couldn’t we just fix that ourselves? Why would God listen to people who believe God needs them to have a gun to help God protect people? Did the thoughts and prayers work the last time? [Lawrence Diggs, “Politicians Relying on Magical Thinking,” Aberdeen American News, 2018.08.03]

Problems don’t go away magically. They don’t get solved magically, either. If we want to solve problems like gun violence and the infiltration of the gun lobby by Putin’s propagandists, we need to take practical action… like supporting and voting for candidates who take a common-sense approach to guns.