[These are my views as a woman living in England, on how the culture and spirit of my country has changed over 50 years. Why the country does not feel protected or strong any more, how it has lost, and is losing it values and decency, and how we are daily losing our free speech.]
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. —Ephesians 6:12
Considering I live in a country where the majority of people have never owned a gun or even seen a real one; there’s an awful lot of talk about gun control going on over here.
Sparked once more by the most recent mass shootings in Las Vegas and Florida, our mainstream news seems to be vehemently attacking the American people, and in particular, its president, Donald Trump, for protecting second amendment rights on a monumental scale.
Leading the way, British journalist Piers Morgan is one of the most formidable and aggressive forces amongst us, in his attack on gun ownership and its laws in America. Highlighting the obvious random murders which are carried out by gunfire upon innocent adults and children, he appears to be championing a cause which many British people support.
Maybe, it is our obvious differences in how we have been exposed to firearms that creates the chasm, and now affords such support; but are countries which now live under very strict gun ownership controls any safer than in America, and do will live under an illusion of feeling protected based on our past history as being a country with one of the lowest rates of gun homicide based on tight gun control?
I have discovered, one of the most stringent gun control laws enforced in the UK came about in the late 1990’s when a ban was made on all handguns (with the exception of those chambered for .22 rim fire cartridges) by John Major under the conservative government and later by Tony Blair under the labour government who went on to ban the .22 handguns. [Read]
This came about after 16 children aged six and under together with a teacher was shot and killed in a primary school in Dunblane, Scotland in 1996. [Read]
Dunblane, which is a small quiet village, was visited by local resident, Thomas Hamilton, a legal gun owner, early one morning just as school had started. He proceeded to walk through the school, opening fire and randomly shoot children.
Today, the public are unable to read the full investigation into Dunblane, called the Cullen Inquiry, because of a closure order preventing publication for 100 years. However, some of the documents were released in 2005 revealing that Hamilton had previously been under investigation by Child Protection for many charges which included assault and obstructing police. It is reported that no action was taken.
Dunblane seems to hold a ‘secret’, and an untold story. It is very evident the village is united and not quite at peace about the outcome with the inquiry. I don’t blame them. The question on why no action was taken against Hamilton has raised some accusations of there being a cover-up.
In Dunblane Cathedral is a beautiful sculpture to the children who died. On one side of the sculpture it reads
“But still I dream that somewhere there must be the spirit of a child that waits for me”
The quotation to me seems to sum up a loss of innocence on our own part, besides being dedicated to the families and children of the Dunblane Massacre. [Read]
Knife Crime in the UK
The UK is no stranger to random attacks upon children in schools.
In 2001, I happened to work for a short time for an organization called Spurgeon’s Child Care. In a new initiative to recruit volunteers to visit children who were in care, and to launch the project, I was delegated to find a suitable celebrity to speak at the launch. It was a difficult task. Eventually, I wrote to a young lady by the name of Lisa Potts, who had been awarded the George Medal for her bravery. In 1996, she had been working at an infant school as a nursery nurse and a man entered the playground and proceeded to attack them with a machete. In attempting to protect the children, one of Lisa’s arms was almost completely severed, and she suffered severe cuts to her head, back and other arm. Several children were also very badly injured.
The assailant, Horrett Campbell, who was arrested the day after the attack claimed that he heard voices, and that he was told the children ‘represented the devil’. It is also reported that he idolized the killer Thomas Hamilton, the murderer of the Dunblane incident.
It is reported he showed no remorse and saw what he had done as a good thing. [Read]
Currently the number of people owning licensed firearms in the UK is 2 million together with 1.3 million legal shotguns in England and Wales. This does not account for the number of illegal owners. Every household most certainly possess knives, although a machete cannot be accounted for. There is a significant rise in both gun and knife crime in the UK, and whilst some British citizens live under a false sense of feeling protected, some are very aware of our vulnerability in a world of increased violence which now incorporates terrorism. We are also aware of no-go areas, honour killings, child abuse on a grand scale, an increase in rape, human trafficking and increased drug and alcohol addiction within the population. In respect of mental health problems, health agencies report that patients with mental health problems are more of a danger to themselves than other people. [Read]
Time to Change, an organization which aims to change attitudes towards mental health states:
“The majority of violent crimes and homicides are committed by people who do not have mental health problems” [Read]
My own thoughts are that violent crimes and homicides are not committed by anyone who is in a ‘balanced’ state of mind.
We should all strive for a balanced mind. This is under threat.
On a daily basis our exposure to crime and fear, with fear being the operative word is growing; and yet to speak out about fear of terrorism, or our caution around some people who appear to be very unbalanced, is becoming the worst crime of all.
Hate Speech
Hate speech seems to account for anything which might offend or hurt someone else’s feelings or views. It can lose you your job, imprison you, and isolate you. It is extremely one-sided.
Those who feel you are being hateful by pointing out obvious facts can be very aggressive.
Many tactics used by hardened news reporters, politicians, some activists (and journalist’s) can bully you down into submission by over-talking you, accusing you, contradicting you and confusing you.
We live in a Dunblane scenario of hidden truth and suppressed facts. Innocence becomes lost. We die internally, our voices not heard; resentment and injustice grows, our thoughts torment us.
Thoughts can become audible; good becomes bad, and bad becomes good. Confusion is life threatening because it can change your identity.
In a recent interview with British journalist Cathy Newman and her guest, Canadian professor Jordon Peterson on the gender pay gap, the questioning became an interrogation using all of the above tactics. When Peterson was accused of offending other people he admitted that this is what we must risk and accept from each other in order for healthy conversation and he had sat for a long time being offended and made very uncomfortable by Newman’s questioning. He displayed a vast amount of grace and wisdom during the interview. He did however know his enemy. He knew that which was outside him and he knew that which was inside himself.
You can watch the interview here.
“The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy’s not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.” —Sun Tzu (The Art of War)
© 2018 Shirley Edwards – All Rights Reserved
E-Mail Shirley Edwards: eshirley02@gmail.com
