One of the reasons that I like folk and country music is the songwriters’ ability to express complex feelings and ideas in just a few words. I’ve heard it said that the main difference between opera and country songs is that the song lasts 3 minutes and the opera goes on for an hour and a half. Here are a few lines that Willie Nelson gave us to ponder.
“The world’s done gone crazy, and it seems to get worse every day. So come on back Jesus, and pick up John Wayne on the way.
While he kicks their butts We’ll just stand there and watch him and pray. Lord the news looked so scary When I glanced at the paper today. So come on back Jesus, And pick up John Wayne on the way”
In biblical history people looked for a John Wayne hero. Israel sought a king to defend against enemies and later a messiah to defeat the Romans. But the lesson of history and of life is that it is up to the people living in the world to create our own peace and safety and to protect our own children. It may be in our nature to wish for a hero who will put the bad guys in their place then ride off into the sunset; leaving us a safe and peaceful nation. In the real world, a young teacher placed her body between a rampaging killer’s assault rifle and the children in her care. She gave up her life in a heroic attempt to protect them. It remains for us, the survivors, to create a world where children and their teachers are safe from mass murderers. If we accept that responsibility, how will we fulfill it?
Taking rapid fire semi-automatic weapons, large magazines and military style ammunition out of circulation will help. It will take courage to do it because a powerful gun lobby will stand in the way.
Creating a functional mental health system which covers everyone will help. Patients need timely access to competent professionals, counseling, medications, and both outpatient and residential services. The system needs performance standards. It is not acceptable for patients in crisis to wait for days and it is not ok to put them on the street because the hospital beds were closed by the legislature. We would not tolerate a health care system that told someone with a broken leg to wait for several days in an ER until they could be transferred to a hospital with an orthopedic surgeon. Severely mentally ill patients face that every day in North Carolina and across the country. After such ordeals, some who need help the most decide not to seek it again. We also lack well organized outpatient care to prevent illness from becoming an emergency. Many state level mental health systems spend huge amounts of money but have no data to demonstrate which of their services work and which do not. We will have to start at the beginning by understanding the needs of patients; with willingness to pay for things that actually work and the discipline to cut out the waste. It will take courage and willpower to acknowledge that our mental health system has been broken by decades of incompetent tinkering by legislators and budgeteers. Handling the gun lobby will be easy compared to tackling the problems of the mental health system.
Several, but not all of our mass killers had a history of mental illness. At this writing (7 days after the fact), I have heard no confirmation that the Connecticut shooter was diagnosed or treated for any mental illness. Think about the Birmingham Sunday School bombers and those who attacked a Sikh temple in Wisconsin. There is more at work here than mental illness. There is hate. It results in acts of violence based on race, religion, sexual orientation, gang affiliation or other factors. Preventing hate crimes will be every bit as difficult as changing gun laws and improving mental health services.
The next heroes will be the ones who help us take an honest look at America and show us how we need to change. The upcoming test of courage will not challenge the staff of the Sandy Hook School. They have already passed with honors; some with great sacrifice. The next test will determine whether the rest of us measure up to the standard by showing the determination and courage to fix our weapons laws; to build a high quality and responsive mental health system in every part of the US; to eliminate the attitudes that lead to hate crimes and to determine whatever else we need to do. Will that include reducing violence in games and movies? Preventing child abuse that leads to adult violence? I don’t know the answers but I do know that creating this kind of change will require courage. There will be heroes who face criticism and possibly danger for their roles in changing our violent nation. If we pass our test, we can have peace and safety beyond what John Wayne could bring with yet another gun. Neither he nor any other hero will do this for us. To paraphrase another old song, “There ain’t nobody else can walk it for us. We’ve got to walk that lonesome valley by ourselves.” It will be a difficult journey, but we can do it if we will.