(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
In America, Guns Are a Religion [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-02-03
It may be time to give mass shootings their own section in the daily news, right next to weather and sports. The U.S. now averages roughly two mass shootings per day (defined as an incident in which at least four people are shot, not counting the shooter), so it would not lack for content. Americans murdering each other in schools, malls, churches, and on the streets has become as familiar and unremarkable as the funny pages — assuming you’re not a victim.
That Americans continue to tolerate this state of affairs is inexplicable to outside observers and those who see guns as an issue subject to factual, reasoned debate. Evidence consistently supports the common-sense conclusions that higher levels of gun ownership lead to more gun-based homicides and suicides, more homicides and suicides overall, and more accidental gun deaths. Countries that strongly regulate and restrict gun ownership have dramatically lower levels of gun violence. Yet, the problem remains intractable.
What’s missing from this debate is the acknowledgment that for many on the right, guns are not a political issue: they’re a religion.
Ideally, knowledge should be grounded in the careful observation of reality and logical deductions based on those observations. This epistemological framework, formalized in the scientific method, is the basis of all of our most reliable knowledge because it minimizes human bias when properly applied. As a practical matter, we accept something as knowledge on the authority of scientists, doctors, professors, and the like, but only on the presumption that their conclusions were arrived at scientifically.
A religious epistemology, on the other hand, is grounded in authority, such as sacred texts or charismatic leaders. To question that authority is to be morally suspect. To adhere to it, even when — or especially when — it contradicts observable facts or logical consistency, is considered not irrational or hypocritical but virtuous: a demonstration of the depth of one’s faith.
This leads to a situation in which competing beliefs cannot be dispassionately compared, and truth — no longer referenced to objective reality — becomes a matter of raw power and charisma. It’s easy to see this playing out in today’s politics, and it explains why religious disagreements so often result in violence.
Instead of deriving conclusions from facts, the essence of a religious belief is to start with a desired conclusion and to then use it to filter out contradicting information. Truth, rather than being a function of observable reality, becomes the lens through which reality itself is discerned and evaluated. Whatever upholds the chosen ideology is true; all else is heresy.
This is why, even though it’s demonstrably true that unfettered access to guns leads to increased gun violence, many conservative leaders continue to insist that more guns will somehow make us safer. They genuinely believe this, not because it makes sense or is supported by evidence, but because it supports a worldview in which guns are synonymous with freedom, security, and patriotism—a worldview that’s appealing to insecure men for obvious reasons. Many gun owners cannot even consider the possibility that our current model of gun ownership is a social problem without feeling immoral, un-American, and treasonous.
If guns were a political issue, productive compromise would be possible. The same goes for abortion rights, immigration reform, corporate taxation, vaccination requirements, climate change, gay rights, environmental regulation, and so on. But when one’s stance is grounded in an unquestionable ideology and undiscerning faith, fruitful conversation and honest negotiation become impossible.
We no longer have two political parties in this country. We have one political party and one religious movement. Our differing approaches to knowledge and truth are why it often feels like we’re speaking different languages and living on different planets.
Subjectively speaking, we are.
This is furthermore why rational argument grounded in facts and logical consistency fails to shape debates, to the endless chagrin of liberals like myself. Obviously, we should not abandon a scientific, objective approach to attaining knowledge and solving problems, but those of us on the left need to learn to speak in terms of values and beliefs, culture and faith, if we’re ever going to persuade anyone. Alternatively, we can keep patting ourselves on the back for being technically correct and watch as all of our biggest problems remain unsolved.
*If you enjoyed this piece, please consider subscribing to my free Substack newsletter at hopeanyway.substack.com or leaving a tip at buymeacoffee.com/ryanurie. Thanks!
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/3/2301168/-In-America-Guns-Are-a-Religion?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
