Commentary on Remembering Our Country’s Past
I just watched a powerful documentary on the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War. Ironically, after a 3-day battle with the South on the verge of victory, General Lee was forced to retreat on July 4th. Our Union was preserved.
But as I write this on July 4, 2022, only 150 years after that famous conflict, I wonder if the descendants of the Southern rebels have found a way to destroy our cherished democracy. Don’t the actions of Trump and his rebel band on January 6, 2021, resemble General Lee and his forces at Gettysburg?
On top of that, the Supreme Court’s ruling on reversing Roe v. Wade was a victory for those wanting our country to adopt the standard embodied by the Antebellum South. They sought to preserve slavery as a state right in the same fashion that they now want to reduce women to the role of second-class citizens.
Well known professional athletes, all men, were allowed to reject Covid vaccines under their mantra to control their own bodies. Yet women are rejected under that standard when it comes to an abortion decision. Does a rape or incest victim now have to give birth to her assailant’s child?
Finally, the Supreme Court struck down New York’s sensible gun laws while Indiana Republican legislators allow the open carrying of firearms without a permit. In the meantime, shootings increase everywhere where people are killed in a parade in Illinois and on the streets of Indianapolis during our holiday weekend.
Here is my suggestion. If guns can be banned from public buildings where our elected officials have their offices, why can’t they be constitutionally banned from markets and city streets where the average American tries to live a decent, peaceful life?
If our country is founded on the principle that all men are created equal, shouldn’t gun laws apply to everyone? Let’s not forget the meaning of the Fourth of July, shall we?
Finally, isn’t it time that we have our Indiana senators come out of hiding and express their support for banning AR-15s and related weapons. These guns serve no purpose other than to kill innocent Americans. Come on, take a stand.
