With the exception of that jerk in the White House, the two topics that are usually never mentioned in the public space are religion and race. What I mean is that both topics can be talked about in positive terms, but woe betide anyone other than Sleazy Don who moves the discussion about either issue into a negative space.
I have decided to depart from that tradition today to talk about religion and guns, in particular a story sent to me by our good friend Shaun Dakin, regarding how some members of the Jewish faith are reacting to the horrific event in Pittsburgh by going out and loading up with guns.
Of course I can afford to say something less than supportive about Jews arming themselves with guns because I happen to be Jewish myself. So in this instance, I not only can talk with some degree of authority about guns and how they are used; I can also talk with the same degree of authority about what it means to be Jewish and want to walk around with a gun.
It seems that in Philadelphia a reporter for the Inquirer newspaper has discovered that a bunch who claim to be Israeli combat veterans have opened a shooting range and so-called ‘tactical school’ named Cherev Gidon. You can translate Hebrew into English about a million different ways, but the two words basically refer to a weapon – cherev – and the Biblical general Gideon. Take it from there.
The school promises “to provide average American civilians with the skills Israeli security personnel rely on for their survival and to defend the security of the state.” And the fact that the courses are taught by Israelis who depend on a well-armed civilian population to protect them from enemies both within and without the Zionist State, means that the students will get a level of training and small-arms preparedness that simply can’t be beat.
So the intrepid newspaper reporter took a ride out to Honesdale, which used to be the location of some high-end summer camps (catering to non-religious Jews, btw) and interviewed several of the new recruits who are paying anywhere from $300 to $500 to get prepared in case another nut job wanders into their synagogue intent on doing them harm. And of course the story wouldn’t be complete without the requisite quote from an older woman who never leaves home without her Ruger pistol because she takes seriously the idea that Jews could always be facing a threat: “I lost all my aunts and uncles in the Holocaust, and I’m going to go down fighting. I’m not walking into a gas chamber.”
Recall during the early stage of the 2016 campaign when Ben Carson was competing with Trump to see who could make the dumbest statement of all? Carson may have easily won the contest when he stated and then re-stated that European Jews could have prevented the Holocaust if they had owned guns. But you know what? You can be guilty of making the stupidest comment in the public arena and there will always be someone out there who not only agrees with you, but will take what you say and use it to justify their own stupid beliefs.
Does this 61-year old Jewish lady makes sure to strap on her Ruger LCP because otherwise she won’t be able to resist being pushed into an oven in Merion, PA? This is the town in which this lady happens to live, and the idea that anyone in Merion could ever imagine being herded into a boxcar for a trip to the American equivalent of Bergen-Belsen simply boggles the mind.
Tomorrow we’ll have some idea from exit polls as to whether my Jewish landsmen really do believe that without Trump and the Israel Defense Forces protecting them, the world might come to an end. So if you haven’t done it yet, make sure you go out and, as we used to say in The Bronx, VOTE EARLY – VOTE OFTEN!
Nov 06, 2018 @ 14:40:25
All things being equal, I would never want to live in a place where one had to go about life armed for legitimate reasons, i.e., that the threats were palpable. I obtained my CHL not so I could strap it on but because New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence (which, as it happens, seems to have stopped speaking to me and stopped returning my emails) said it was one of the toughest state CHL requirements. Which to me means the other 49 are pretty lame.
I got into a world of excrement a few years ago after a mom in these parts bragged about, and was passing the hat for, her son, who joined the IDF as an American volunteer so he could sling one over his shoulder and go “pacify” Gaza. Given that my paternal side is from Lebanon/Syria, I quipped in a return editorial that armed violence between Arabs and Israelis seems to have had a quite limited effect on solving the problems of the Middle East and of validating, to some Arab groups, the legitimacy of the State of Israel. i was called an anti-Semite in return. When rational argument fails, resort to ad hominem.
I don’t blame some for wanting to arm up after Pittsburgh, but have some reservations. One, surprise attacks work. Even with a successful defense, I suspect blood would be spilled. Less blood is better than more blood but this solution seems to be adding fire extinguishers to a firetrap rather than reducing the fuel load and isolating the matches. Two, I wonder if that 300-500 dollar course is all that its cracked up to be; proper training is rigorous and recurrent. Three, nations where social order is so fragmented that private armies are needed to safeguard homes, schools, and public places are called failed states.
I hope we can do better. As an Arab-American, I would be more than willing to strap one on and defend a synagogue if asked, but would prefer we don’t go there. I’m already concerned that our social cohesion is circling the bowl.
Nov 07, 2018 @ 13:09:49
I respect what you say here. But let me suggest that no single measure that if taken would destroy more social cohesion faster … in most of the country… than a heavy handed ban on a deeply popular class of firearm.