This episode of Living Myth examines the ongoing plague of mass shootings and growing tragedy of gun violence in America. Michael Meade uses a teaching tale from ancient Africa to show what happens to a culture when people refuse to face up to dangers that can turn any public place into a site of tragedy and unnecessary death.

An old idea states that it is the same to live in a tragic time as to be in a tragic place. We live in tragic times, but by now, anyone can find themselves in the midst of gun violence and great tragedy in any place in the United States. Mass shootings have happened in banks and in grade schools, in churches and in movie theaters, in nightclubs and in synagogues, at universities and at concerts, in shopping malls and dance halls and the list goes on and on.

The tragic scourge of gun violence in America cannot be simply reduced to the mental health problems of a few unbalanced individuals. Rather, it is an ever growing problem with the mental health and the psychological imbalance of an entire culture. And sadly, tragedies that do not lead to meaningful change and genuine healing have no option but to lead to ever greater tragedies.

Just as guns can backfire on those who use them, a culture that develops wealth and power, but does not develop in psychological and spiritual ways, will eventually suffer more from self-inflicted wounds than attacks from outside enemies. When public figures and people in high offices speak with bravado about owning and being willing to use assault weapons, they are not just indicating how fearful they are, but they are also demonstrating a dangerous lack of psychological maturity.

An essential sign of human maturity is an increased ability to hold the tension of opposing ideas and conflicting emotions without overreacting or acting out. The false sense of security that might come from holding a gun can seem powerful; but it can quickly become just risky, dangerous behavior that leads to tragic outcomes with long term consequences for both the individuals involved and the culture in general.

Those who claim to be conservatives, but also argue for the wide distribution and open carrying of weapons intended for war, have forgotten that preserving life is the first responsibility of actual adults and that preserving the peace is a genuine necessity for truly sustaining freedom.

There have been over 140 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, and the combined number of deaths from gun violence has already reached almost 10,000 people. And worst of all, most painful of all, gun violence in America has surpassed car accidents and has become the leading cause of death for children.

It is our mutual fate to be alive in tragic times; yet when we fail to grasp the nature of our fate, we become ruled by it. If we deny or try to escape our fate, we simply contribute to the hardening of it. And right now, America is going through a hardening of minds and hardening of hearts in which some people come to value guns over children and choose continued violence over safety and healing. A culture that begins to deny the tragic presence of death will end up denying the value and meaning of life. Unless we change, our mutual fate will be ever more tragic.

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