For this cartoon, I wanted to reference several attacks against religious institutions. While it focuses on the past week, it’s a reference to Charleston, Pittsburgh, Texas, Christ Church, the synagogue shootings that happened Saturday, and the terrorists attack on the churches in Sri Lanka. Then I thought I might have a problem because guns weren’t involved in Sri Landa and there weren’t any church shootings over the past week…then I remembered this is America. Of course, there were church shootings over the past week.
And there were. Yesterday in Baltimore, there was a shooting at a cookout near a Baptist church that left seven wounded and one dead. Another shooting happened the Saturday before at a funeral service in a church in Frederick County, Maryland that left two wounded.
Not all of these are hate crimes, but several were targeting people for their religions. In Christ Church, New Zealand, the attacker was hoping his hit on mosques would provoke retribution from Islamic terrorists. He got his wish as the attack on churches in Sri Lanka that has left over 300 dead was reportedly in response to the Christ Church attack.
The attack on a synagogue in Pittsburgh was by a white nationalist who hated Jews and while not a fan of Donald Trump, repeated many of his wolf whistles about George Soros and globalism. The attack in Charleston, South Carolina on a black church was also by a white racist. At the shooting Saturday near San Diego, there are reports the shooter was screaming about “Jews ruining the world.”
The San Diego shooter reportedly left a document on 8chan full of racist slurs and white nationalist conspiracy theories. The author claimed to have been inspired by the Christ Church massacre, as well as the shooting in Pittsburgh and motivated by the same white nationalist cause. The Christ Church shooter had also left a manifesto on 8chan.
The National Rifle Association has done everything in its power to make it easy for lunatics to acquire guns. Each time there’s a shooting at a church or a school, it becomes another fundraising drive for them as they use the incidents to claim they and the 2nd Amendment are under attack. They also use it to drive up gun sales. When people die, the NRA cries for the guns that killed them. So, it’s good to see the NRA in serious trouble.
Russia, a nation with very strict gun laws, used the NRA to pour money into the 2016 presidential election. There has been mismanagement of the organization’s funding and they are fearing they’ll go broke. Their president, Oliver North, who once sold weapons to Iran, resigned yesterday after trying to force out chief executive Wayne LaPierre. The most distressing news for the NRA is that the state of New York has opened an investigation into the gun group’s tax-exempt status. While the organization keeps its membership numbers a secret, there are reports it’s dropping.
The NRA, which is basically an organ of the Republican Party, may be the biggest defender of the 2nd Amendment but they don’t own it. They warn that if they’re not around then the 2nd Amendment will soon follow. The problem with focusing on just one Amendment means you didn’t read the rest of the United States Constitution. We need to protect the entire document, not just one amendment. The Second will be fine. There is not a movement in this country to do away with it. Gun control does not mean outlawing guns.
I believe in the 2nd Amendment. I believe in the right to bear arms. But that right doesn’t mean children have to die in school and worshippers have to die at their services. We can have the 2nd Amendment and safe gun laws. When it comes to full-access to guns or the lives of children, the NRA will choose the guns.
I don’t think the NRA is going to die but if it does, I say good riddance. A bad day for the NRA would be a great day for the USA.
Watch the video.
Email Clay Jones at [email protected]