According to the Gun Violence Archive, the annual rate of mass shootings in the US has been in the 600’s since 2020 – almost double that of the average in the 2010 decade. According to Statista, the annual rate of homicides in Canada in 2016 virtually tied a 2004 record of 224 and, by 2021, it had reached 297. What is wrong and what can be done about it?
In North America, we’ve tried tougher gun laws, longer prison sentences, assault weapon bans, arming teachers, stricter background checks, raising the age to purchase a gun, greater control of the video gaming industry, all to no avail. Is it time to identify and tackle the root cause?
Might it be that the root cause is not the perpetrator, but society? That the root cause is us? A century ago, Robert Blatchford penned Not Guilty- A Defense of the Bottom Dog. His thesis was that we are all the product of our heredity and environment and, consequently, cannot take credit for, nor be blamed for what we do. My late wife had a similar lesson for our grade-school children. When they would complain that they hated little Billie, she told them they shouldn’t hate little Billie, but it’s right to hate the bad things little Billie does.
Blatchford’s like position is controversial but well defended.
Is it your observation that most of those who perpetrate mass shootings are mentally challenged and ex-convicts? Why?
In your life, have you ever experienced being shunned, ostracized, looked down upon or been made fun of? What if that had been your experience for your whole life? How much more must the mentally challenged have experienced this? Might they despair of ever being respected and loved? In your life, have you ever done something evil and never been forgiven, accepted and loved? Is that not the experience of the those whose
incarceration has focused on punishment rather than rehabilitation and whose
release has resulted in abandonment and rejection by society? Might both groups not seek
revenge?
If we do nothing to ameliorate this, are we not its root cause? But what can we do about it?
Do you accept that your creator’s purpose in creating you must be the purpose of your life? Do you accept that your creator’s purpose is your predetermined life’s purpose – that you love it and all its created as selflessly and unconditionally as you are able? If you doubt or reject this position, would you accept a challenge to reexamine your doubt and/or
rejection? If so, part of your reexamination might be to assess the case laid out in the Meaning of Life Video Series. There, you’ll discover that reasoning, religion and spirituality each reinforce the others’ positions that your purpose is to love every created person selflessly and unconditionally, whether you call your creator God, the Great Power or simply creator.
Can your selfless and unconditional love make a difference? Could you offer that love in visits with the incarcerated and parolees? Could you forgive what is past and done? Could your love overcome their lingering hate? Could you offer love and respect in visits with the mentally challenged? Could your love for both build their self-esteem and overcome their need to strike back at society?
Could you help others take similar initiatives by sharing your ideas on life’s purpose with them? Because most people resist discussions of life’s purpose, could you share with them the ideas in Discovering Life’s Purpose and in the video channel and blog on delhsmith.com? Could that motivate them to act, motivating others to act, motivating others - ad infinitum?
Do not all great achievements begin with someone taking the initiative? Could this initiative be yours?
Del H. Smith conducts research into life’s meaning and is the award-winning author of the Amazon Best Seller, Discovering Life’s Purpose.