Where are we going?

Children might lead way, seek end to gun violence

When he was 88 years old, the late Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes found himself on a train. When the conductor came by, Holmes couldn’t find his ticket, and he seemed terribly upset. He searched all of his pockets and fumbled through his wallet without success. The conductor was sympathetic. He said, “Don’t worry, Mr. Holmes, the Pennsylvania Railroad will be happy to trust you. After you reach your destination, you’ll probably find the ticket and you can just mail it to us.”

But the conductor’s kindness failed to put Holmes at ease. Still very much upset, he said, “My dear man, my problem is not ‘Where is my ticket?’ The problem is, ‘Where am I going?’”

That is the question being asked, no matter one’s politics, religion or social stratum: As a society, as a nation and as a planet, where are we going? Where are things headed with all of the polarization and aggression in speech and deed? Where will it all lead with all of the truth tampering and cyber-manipulation that is decaying the quality of our democracy?

I hear all the time that folks are experiencing “citizen fatigue” — a growing weariness about the state of our public discourse, the seized up political process and constant impulsiveness of political leadership. Regardless of political persuasion, people are just fed up.

And then, tragedy struck at the high school in Parkland, Fla. So far, in the 11 weeks of 2018 there have been 17 school shootings in the United States: March 20, Lexington Park, Md.; March 13, Seaside, Calif.; March 8, Mobile, Ala.; March 7, Birmingham, Ala.; March 7, Jackson, Miss.; March 2, Mount Pleasant, Mich.; Feb. 27, Norfolk, Va.; Feb. 27, Itta Bena, Miss.: Feb. 24, Savannah, Ga.; Feb. 14, Parkland, Fla.; Feb. 9, Nashville, Tenn.; Feb. 5, Oxon Hill, Md.; Feb. 1, Los Angeles; Jan. 31, Philadelphia; Jan. 23, Benton, Ky.; Jan. 22, Italy, Texas; Jan. 20, Winston Salem, N.C. Simply shocking!!

Since Parkland, everything has changed. And I am not so downtrodden as I was about our democracy. Today, as you read this column, there are anywhere from a half million to a million students from around the country in Washington, D.C., to demonstrate their

outrage at the lack of political will to address gun violence in schools and what they perceive as an increasing culture of violence and

aggression promoted as an acceptable norm.

I know this is Arkansas. As hunters and collectors, we enjoy and respect our firearms. I support the Second Amendment AND I support reasonable gun safety legislation that is uniform

and effective.

I am inspired by these kids for taking the initiative and expressing the political will to protect themselves and all of us from the perilous weaknesses in gun safety laws. The children might yet show us the way! We

need to listen closely. Truth from the mouths of babes, perhaps? Rob Lennick is the rabbi of the Community Synagogue of Northwest Arkansas in Rogers and rabbi in residence of the Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship in Eureka Springs. Contact him at 633-9221.