|
Yes, it would be stupid to say. I said it would be stupid to say.
Doesn't make what I said untrue. It is not equating all gun ownership and all religion with gang culture, just a form of them. And to say that different things share a common impetus is not, as you so deviously try to do, to say that all outcomes of a common source are equally good or bad. There is nothing inherently harmful in gun ownership and religion. But I do think that many people, when they aren't given a way to fulfill themselves begin to use external indicators such as group participations to build themselves up and exclude others. This is harmful to community and national cohesion.
I know lots of people who are religious for what I think are bad reasons -- primarily it gives them a way to feel superior to those who aren't a member of the religion. They may have a lot of problems by at least they had the sense to find the right god.
I know, it is a silly thought, that we would actually elect a person to an office that is capable of recognizing (and even worse, acknowledging) that bad things can sometimes do good things, or that good things can be used in bad ways. Better that good things be entirely good and bad things be entirely bad. That way we know who to hate, who to love, and who can just be ignored.
|