Our currency says, "In God we trust." For many, it is, "In guns we trust."
The front page of the Times Union for Dec. 19 has two photos in juxtaposition: One showing the reading of the names of Sandy Hook school victims during a prayer vigil; the other a photo of a gun store owner with the article sub-headline, "Assault rifles are hot items as fear of federal ban rise."
A picture is worth a thousand words and these two photos lift up the struggle that is going on in our land.
I have no trouble with sportsmen and women who like to hunt. What I have trouble with is assault weapons in the hands of those who are not military people or police officers. We ban fireworks and even sparklers for the protection of the public; however, current law allows assault weapons. That is utter nonsense.
I would imagine owning an assault weapon gives one a certain sense of power and of safety, though a double-barrel shotgun will do that same thing for you if that is what you feel you need. The problem is deeper than self-protection, it is an issue of fear and identity and, ultimately, it is an issue of where we place our trust.
A larger juxtaposition involves these two front-page photos and the Christmas season. During this time, people gather in churches to worship the child in the manger who is called, "The Prince of Peace." This is the one who holds open for us another way of living that is not based on fear but on faith, not on trust in guns but in God.
If we are to heal as a nation, we must not put our trust in guns but in something higher, more powerful and more hope-filled: "In God we trust."
REV. LARRY A. DEYSS
Delmar