One of the hallmarks of modern liberalism Ariel suggested is an astonishing inability to recognize much less confront evil. Therefore it becomes psychologically necessary for the liberal to place the blame on an inanimate object – the gun – rather than on the person who pulls the trigger. It is easier to fault the gun manufacturer for the horror at Columbine rather than admit that two 16-year-old boys are capable of such evil.
The Jewish attitude Ariel maintained is to place the blame where it squarely belongs: on the two young men; to declare their evil and never to utter their names. For just as goodness is a reality so is evil. Try and imagine said Ariel if one or two Columbine teachers had guns with them. Imagine if these armed teachers had been able to protect the students who were shot down like defenseless animals.
There was another aspect to these stories that Ariel detected and deeply troubled him. The media always referred to Columbine and even 9-11 as tragedies. They’re not tragedies Ariel held. They are outrages. A tragedy is when people are killed in a fire or an earthquake. But when people are murdered in cold blood it is an atrocity. Again Ariel pointed out the media overwhelmingly liberal is unable to distinguish malevolent acts from natural disasters.
Ariel concluded that Jews in America should be at the forefront of the right to bear arms. Jews should join the National Rifle Association. For Jews to rely on the power of the state for protection is sheer foolishness. Time and again Jewish history reveals governments cruelly betraying their Jewish citizens. And though Ariel felt that America was different he still maintained that allowing the state to make the ownership of weapons illegal is an unwise policy.
But like so much else in American Jewish life Jews have signed on to aggressively utopian ideologies that go against their self-interest. Instead countless Jews espouse principles that feed their need to feel virtuous. But in the end these are beliefs that defy common sense and display an appalling ignorance of Jewish history and halacha.
Ariel looked forward to the day when he and I would go to the shooting range together for some target practice.
Let’s shoot at a picture of Arafat I said.
And Osama said Ariel.
And Saddam Hussein.
And the president of France Ariel added with his wry smile.