Politics and Science

     In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I re-read the Letter from a Birmingham Jail. There are many insightful quotes and excerpts, but this following section stuck out to me. One sentence from it is already well known and often quoted.      "Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever effects one directly, effects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live in the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives in the United States cannot be considered an outsider."

This was published in the Des Moines Register as a Letter to the Editor today. There was a mass shooting in Perry, Iowa. I hope the people injured recover quickly and offer my condolences to those killed. I will be thinking of Perry community today, but thoughts are not enough. Reasonable, common-sense rules can prevent some harm from guns, while preserving rights of law-abiding citizens. There’s the saying, guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Imagine the same saying about cars. Cars don’t kill people, drivers kill people. To drive a car, people have to have a license, have insurance, maintain their car, wear a seatbelt, and park their car in an allowed space. Gun ownership is a part of American culture, like diners and cars. Just as there are regulations to increase safety while preparing food and driving, there should be reasonable regulations to promote safe gun ownership.

  I thought of a joke a few weeks ago. The US Declaration of Independence says that, "All men are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these, life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness." The Founding Fathers clearly meant Creator to mean God, or higher spiritual power. But then I wondered, what if it meant their mothers? (This is a joke!) They clearly meant God or higher spiritual power.