In a piece at the Huffington Post, the Rev. Al Sharpton inveighs against mounting gun violence in America. He says that lawmakers and civic leaders have a moral obligation to fight gun lobbyists and the laws that feed the crisis.
It's easy to sit in Congress or in a gated secluded community and talk down to people. When you are removed from reality and removed from the everyday struggles of hard-working folks, you have no concept of what they overcome day in and day out. Some are quick to tell people who are literally pulling pennies together to feed their children that they need to work harder. House Republicans don't hesitate to cut nearly $40 billion in food stamps while they continue enjoying their paychecks and scheduled vacation time. Many give in to NRA pressure and lobbying efforts, meanwhile our society grows increasingly unsafe with the proliferation of guns everywhere. Moral people should reflect a moral society. One cannot consider themselves even remotely moral when they demonize the poor, and create further inequality in the country.
Within the next few weeks, I will be taking an apartment in the city of Chicago in order to continue raising awareness on the epidemic of gun violence. I don't have all the answers. Nobody does. But just because a task is challenging, that does not mean we simply shrug our shoulders and do nothing. It is the duty of everyone with a voice to raise questions publicly and consistently, with the goal that together we can find solutions. The answer is not attacking the impoverished, threatening a government shutdown, attempting to defund a program that will give millions health care and pretending to be moral figures while behaving like the biggest sinners when it comes to others.
Read the Rev. Al Sharpton's entire piece at the Huffington Post.
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