The tragic events of Newtown, CT have clearly had a remarkable impact on the American population, drawing citizens together to converse about the national condition and the overall health of our society. While still worlds apart, I am witnessing open dialog between fiercely partisan folks in my family, in my workplace, and in the public square in general, during this period of national grieving over the senseless acts of violence that shook us all to our core.
While now is not necessarily the time to dress down the conservative/right-wing people in our lives, or attack them on a personal level, I feel this IS the time to diplomatically, carefully, approach those in our lives who have resisted calls to support gun control with an appeal to their own belief systems.....
I am specifically talking about outreach to those in our lives who identify as strongly "pro-life".
This is the time for those of us on the left to engage, whenever and wherever possible a pro-life individual and ask them to align with efforts to bring forth sensible gun control laws to bear on a society drowning in high-caliber automatic weapons outfitted with high-capacity cartridges, instruments designed not to hunt, or to defend a homestead, but to deliver mass casualties. Now is the time to have the dialogue.
We can agree to disagree on the matter of when life begins, or a woman's right to choose, but surely, we can all agree that 5 year old children ARE in fact living beings whose lives ARE precious and sacred AND worth protecting from slaughter. Words to this effect should be spoken to any and all pro-lifers within our reach.
It will take an overwhelming show of support from the general population from the left and right to move politicians to enact these reforms, and the process of taking countless polls upon polls is already underway. We must build coalitions with those who we may not agree with on any other issue, we must put aside all other political differences for the sake of getting consensus on the issue of reasonable, sane gun control in America. Now IS the time for some bi-partisanship on an issue.