Common Sense Reborn

Shifting Focus Part 3

¹³“You must not murder.“ (Exodus 20:13)

For our third neighborhood Bible Study, since returning to the States, this week we are looking at the last five chapters of Genesis, the first 25 Chapters of Exodus, and the first five chapters of the Gospel of Matthew. Included in that reading is Exodus Chapter 20, where God give Moses the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. If you are not familiar with the Ten Commandments they are as follows:

1. Do not worship or have any gods except the one true God.
2. Do not make idols that take the place of God. 
3. Do not take the Lord’s name in vain.
4. Keep the Sabbath holy. 
5. Honor your father and mother.
6. Do not murder.
7. Do not commit adultery.
8. Do not steal.
9. Do not lie.
10. Do not covet.

Number six is a big one, and the one I want to focus on as we shift our focus from thinking America is the greatest country in the world, to taking an honest look at where we are failing.

Yesterday, I touched on how we are failing at living out Jesus’ greatest commitment of loving God by failing to protect His creation: Earth. I showed several examples of how Poland excels at living out this commandment by pushing their country to run more on renewable energy, thus cutting down on harmful emissions and helping heal this planet. Today I want to focus on Jesus’ second commandment: to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. We cannot love our neighbor if we are actively seeking to kill them.

Currently, the city of Savannah is sitting at 13 homicides for the year. This is much higher than this time last year, but slightly under the murder count for 2022. And Savannah’s number are dwarfed in comparison by much larger cities like Chicago, which sit at 213 thus far this year. NYC, the most populated city in the US, currently has 124 homicides for the year. By comparison, however, the ENTIRE country of Poland has such low numbers, they do not track them throughout the year. The latest numbers I could find are from 2019, when Poland only had 111 deaths by firearms. Since 2019, Poland has had continual decreases in homicides so much so that in 2022, Poland had 0 deaths per 100,000 residents. While I found many amazing resources to track the plague of gun violence in the US, the starkest comparison comes from this website, that compares crime between our country and Poland. In looking at this chart, the US is number one in two important categories: drug crimes and violent crimes. Poland is ranked 16th in the world for drug crimes, and 14th for violent crimes. Still not great numbers, but I can personally attest that I felt much safer in Poland than I ever do in the United States. I felt at peace. I felt like I could walk the streets of any major city and not have the fear that I would be the victim of a violent crime. Why is that? What are the key main differences? Well, I believe the most important is what I will write of tomorrow. The second, is the commonsense reason: Poland makes gun ownership something that is not celebrated, but something that is taken with seriousness that gun ownership should be. The Poles have several commonsense steps required for any gun ownership, including the first and foremost, they must obtain a license to own a firearm. But Poland has a few commonsense rules to obtaining a firearm’s license. First, you have to be at least twenty-one years old. There is no reason for an 18–to-20-year-old to own a firearm. Second, you cannot legally own a firearm if you have been convicted of ANY crimes, not just felonies, as is the standing rule in America. But I think one of the greatest reasons Poland has better gun ownership measures in place is that they do not glorify guns as America does. And I do realize that guns will always find their way into the hands of criminals, but if we want to make America a safer place, we need to put better laws in place to equip law enforcement with more tools to get firearms out of the hands of those who cannot legally possess them. Any respectable citizen of any country should respect stricter gun ownership laws as these do not prevent ownership, but rather make sure responsible citizens are the ones legally able to possess them.

I am not a fan of guns. I think they are the weapon of a coward and while they do require skill to operate (which is opposite what Hollywood portrays) they make conflict less about personal strength and courage, to a weapon that the weak hide behind. The only firearm in our household is my service weapon. I rely on the protection of God to watch over my household, and if that is not enough, then what will a silly, little firearm do? Where does your faith lie? In firearms, or in the Father alone? My faith is in my Father, and that is more than enough.