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UpDated April 27, 1999 |
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Letter to the Editor, Gazette-Times of Corvallis, Oregon
by Joe Fulton
Philomath
June 7, 1998
To the Editor:
So lack of gun control has nothing to do with gun violence! Rather it's a decline in morality. Bring back the good old days when Americans were a righteous and moral people.
Once again we ignore our own history.
For 200 years slavery was legal in America! Once abolished, irate Americans formed the KKK, picnicked at lynchings, and deprived African Americans of civil rights for another 100 years. Was that moral?
From the Trail of Tears to Wounded Knee, our ancestors spent the 19th century exterminating Native Americans. Men, women and children were routinely massacred and few whites objected. Was that moral?
Our ancestors demonstrated religious intolerance by murdering Joseph Smith, chasing his Mormon followers out of several states, and engaging in anti-Catholic riots. Was that moral?
For 150 years following the Declaration of Independence, women had virtually no rights and were not allowed to participate in our "Democracy". Was that moral?
Throughout our history child labor was common and the poor working class people labored in horribly dangerous conditions. Was that moral?
From 1900 to 1964, over 740,000 Americans lost their lives in non-combat use of firearms. The majority of those deaths were homicides.
Were Americans of the past more moral than Americans of the present? Our own history offers overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Our glorification of guns harkens us back to that time of self-righteous immorality and the widespread violence it condoned.
I prefer to continue our slow but sure progression toward a better world,
and ultimately, a world without violence.
Joe Fulton