Knowing the Cause

As many of you have probably heard, Charlie Kirk (popular conservative commentator, but definitely not Catholic) was shot while answering questions at a school in Utah. You can read the news about it; reporting is not what I do here. I want to make just a few brief comments about the entire thing.

Context is significant. We have shootings going on regularly now and it seems that the majority of the time there is a certain "flavor" to them that few are talking about. Has anyone ever heard about a devout Catholic going out and shooting pagans? Has anyone ever heard of a faithful clergyman seeking to end the lives of those who hurt him? Is there even one report of a Nun using a gun against her persecutors? This is not to say that it could never happen, but if it does (ever) then it is clearly not the norm.

What we do hear about is hateful people (frequently mentally unstable) either shooting anyone and everyone, or specifically aiming at shooting someone who is at least generally conservative and peaceful. Is it not obvious that the availability of the weapons is not the issue, but rather the philosophy and ideology of the person doing the shooting? How can anyone ignore the fact that the peace that Christ encouraged does not lead to hate and murder? How can anyone ignore that atheism, liberalism, modernism, and whole host of other pagan "isms" all lead to this very thing?

If we want to end "gun violence", then we need to drive out the beliefs that cause it.