are you buying

  I wrote it some time back, I think there is little I haven't written about or at least touched upon in these ramblings of mine, but thought it bore repeating this morning. "Maturity is the acceptance of consequence." That's it. It is what your parents were saying when they said, you're old enough to know better. Although the phrase I heard most often was, you made your bed now lie in it! Seems to me far too many have never heard that message or been forced to comply with that lesson. I certainly was. You got yourself into this mess, figure out how to get out. Paying the piper or the fiddler whatever the case happens to be was my responsibility. There was no "go fund me" when I did something stupid. I had to pay for that myself! 

  I'm left a bit puzzled at times. I hear otherwise mature and reasonable adults promoting the most ridiculous of ideas. Gun control tops the list. The reality is that people are using guns to assault each other. The guns aren't assaulting anyone. I just don't understand why so many can't seem to grasp and understand that reality. There are an estimated 400 million guns in the United States. Those guns are available to anyone that has the money to purchase them. It doesn't make a bit of difference to the ones selling them what the age of the person is, what their race, creed, color, religion, sexual preference, political affiliation or legality of the transaction. The only thing that matters is having the money! Period. That's the same reason there are illegal drugs being sold on the street. It doesn't matter to the one selling them whether they are safe or not, what matters is making a profit. Drug control. You don't hear anyone hollering about needing drug control, do you? No and yet drugs are still being sold and killing people every single day. If we are to respond to the gun problem the same way, we should just be handing out bullet proof vests! Narcan is the solution being offered to the drug problem. No one is blaming the pharmaceutical companies for manufacturing drugs. No one is saying, after an overdose, if only Pfizer couldn't sell those pills. The problem is not the guns or the pills. The problem is those willing to misuse them. And what do you do about that? 

  Well, that is purpose of religious teachings isn't it. To establish a moral code, to delineate right from wrong. It makes little difference if it is one God or a thousand Gods and Goddesses. What is important is in teaching correct behaviors. I've read the argument that you can be a moral and ethical person without being a religious person, you can be an atheist, deist, or whatever. I agree that you can. The thing is if you are you are following the moral and ethical behaviors of those that are religious peoples. That's just the straight up reality of the situation. 

  You can deny the God, but not the action. Call fire water and it will still burn you, see my point? Man created government to do much the same thing. The purpose of government is to do what? Provide for a peaceful co-existence among the people. To me that is the primary purpose. Just like religious practices, governments vary widely in the way they attempt to provide that security. Still, the objective is to delineate what is acceptable and what is not. Also, the reason for the establishment of a penal code. A penalty must be imposed when infractions occur. The ultimate penalty is the loss of your life! Why is that? Because your life is your most precious possession. Yes, that's the reason for that. 

  In the Bible God didn't blame or punish the snake! No, Adam and Eve were held responsible for that action. The snake deceived Eve with the promise of power. Indeed, the snake told Eve she would be equal to God. Adam and Eve chose to disobey the one commandment given to them. God didn't make the snake disappear as some think they can do with guns, God simply punished Adam and Eve. We all know how that worked out. Cain kills his brother with a rock. God doesn't make all the rocks disappear either. 

  The simple truth is it the choices that people make that are to blame. It isn't the snake, the rock or the gun. It is the decision by someone to use those items to cause harm upon others. You can't remove every object capable of causing harm to others. You can restrict the acquisition of those items but never completely make them inaccessible because of one thing, money. Yes, it is money. The love of money is the root of all evil. Note, it isn't the money that is evil! That money is capable of great things and can be a benefit to all of humanity. All forms of vice involve money in some way. Gambling, prostitution, illegal drug and alcohol use. All involve a lack of self-control on the part of the person participating in those vices. And there are always those willing to provide whatever it is, for a price. And what do you do about that? 

 Answer that question and you will have solved the problem. Until that time comes all we can do is punish the wrongdoers! You have to make it, not worth the price. When you remove the value of a life, as we are certainly promoting today with the idea that taking a life is a viable choice simply for the sake of convenience, that changes everything. Maturity is the acceptance of consequence. The thing is that the consequences have to be swift and sure! That is what is lacking today, in my estimation. We need to bring the gavel down! There will always be those willing to sell, what we need to eliminate are the salesmen. You do that by making whatever it is they are selling unprofitable. And only you can control that! Not God, not government, you. What do you want to buy?