Since I did dip into politics here, maybe I should not have published this today. I deleted it from FB and suggested that the Asheville paper delay publishing it, if they are prone to publish it at all.  

A day for prayer and reflection, President Obama said, and I agree. So I will phone bank tomorrow instead of today. The tragedy in Aurora, whatever the motivation of the gunman, points to the fact that we are violence prone and we need to tighten up our gun laws. I know the NRA will scream about that idea. I don't care. People with sense and a conscience need to stand up to them, including those in government.

They love to threaten politicians who promote gun control, even reasonable gun regulations. It is time for politicians to say, "Do what you want, but I am going to do what is right."

And yes, I DO support the Second Amendment.

It is easy to say the gunman is a loose cannon; but he also reflects something very amiss in our culture, a tendency to believe it's okay exact punishment on innocents, and okay to take the law into your own hands.

And, yes, we need to look at our own aggressive tendencies, whether they be of the verbal or physical kind. Screaming at someone is another less immediately lethal form of aggression.

I do not yet know what the story is with this gunman; but we have seen too many similar cases to dismiss this as some kind of anomaly.

There is a coarsening factor in our culture that many people have become aware of, a tendency to resort to blatant rudeness at the drop of the hat. This phenomenon is related to our proneness to aggressiion, and by analogy, to violence and killing.

I believe that self-defense is justified, with the least level of force applied. Generally, we need to leave incendiary social matters in the hands of law enforcement. Witness the Trayvon Martin tragedy. And if the police resort to violence unnecessarily, they need to be called to account.

Do what you want, but i am going to do what is right.