As We Teach Each Other, So Shall We Become

   One of the latest shootings to make national new comes to reinforce the thought, As we teach our children, so shall they become.
   All of us are the children I speak of, and all are the teachers. We teach each other, with words of what is right and wrong, even as we teach our children. It is we, as society, who assign values to the gun. It is we, the people, in our debates and public discussions who teach each other.
   One of our teachings is that blood must be spilt every once in a while, in order for freedom to endure. It can be a good teaching, but it can also be dangerous. Take this, from the "manifesto" Chris Dorner left: a quote from Thomas Jefferson:
   "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants," Dorner quotes Jefferson as saying, and then he says he is not applying that to the federal government, but to the LAPD.
   Dorner, a former officer himself, killed one officer and wounded two others. He escaped and is now the focus of one of the biggest manhunts in Southern California history, with his manifesto promising he will return to take out others..
   Would that somewhere --- maybe even in his formal training as an officer, as well as in his public discussions, -- someone had taught him better.
   "Chris, that quote from Thomas Jefferson, does it give you the right to jump over a few seats and grab someone by the neck because they used the word 'nigger'?
    "No, Chris, it doesn't. In police term, it would be unnecessary use of force. And, if you think what you really should do in that situation is to hold a gun to their head, well, that gets into assault with a deadly weapon, assault of an officer, and threatening to kill. Okay? 
    "With that gun you are strapping on, comes responsibility. If you think it makes you judge, jury and executioner, we are hiring the wrong man. We execute the law by bringing people to justice, not by executing punishment. We leave that up to the courts. Do you understand?
    "Oh, and Chris, what if you find a homeless person beaten by a fellow police officer and the fellow police officer goes unpunished, is that right?
     "No, it's not. It is way wrong. Does it mean you pick up your weapons and go on a search for officers a few years later, seeking out and killing them one at a time? You are highly trained, one of our best. Do you know better than to abuse all we have taught you?"
   Well, I wish somewhere back in his upbringing, Dorner had been taught that the value of a life remains even in those who you judge to be very wicked. The power of the Second Amendment lies not in enforcing our own beliefs of who is righteous and who is evil. That is something we should teach each other.