Just when you think it's safe to talk to strangers...

The other day, I got into one of those casual conversations one often strikes up with a stranger. Nothing earth-shaking; the weather, the school system, Ian's latest accomplishment, the accomplishments of their children/grandchildren, that sort of thing.

[DELIBERATE DIGRESSION: For those of you who are joining the congregation late, and have had neither a chance nor an interest (fully understandable) in looking at early posts, background, etc., Ian is my son, who is currently teaching English in Japan, was recently appointed Head Instructor for his colleagues in the Niigata Prefecture Elementary and Middle Schools, climbed Mt. Fuji this summer, is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, etc., etc., etc.)

Next thing I know, this person is assuming Ian went to private, highly conservative schools, and also making the assumption that, being retired from the U. S. Air Force, I'm a neo-con, homophobic, gun nut who wants the Southern Border reworked into something that makes the old Berlin Wall look like a picket fence. It's difficult to hold a conversation with someone with whom I can agree on very little.

Just for the record, my politics are reasonably liberal, based in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and (I will admit freely) contaminated by several hundred hours of study in the general field of Constitution Law and the way it relates to Education Law and Business Law.

I don't understand how you can hate a whole class of people because of a shared characteristic. There are a few individuals I try to forgive every Erev Yom Kippur ... unsuccessfully. There are a few people I intensely disliked at particular moments (getting shot at from a distance has that temporary effect). There are even a few people whose assumptions about the world get right up my nose. That last group tends to arouse the need to teach, rather than the desire to hate. It's the cliche about teaching the pig to dance, but it is difficult to resist.

Just as I believe that G-d does not make junk, I believe that a large percentage of the population can change their minds when presented with new information. Evidence to the contrary, I do not believe the mind is so tightly locked that information can't enter.

I served 26 years in the U.S. Air Force, and for four of those years, I was seconded to NATO. As an unintended side affect, I wound up rating Expert with a dozen of so firearms. I was shot at a couple of times, and that's all the information relevant to this paragraph. I do not own a sidearm, nor a rifle, nor so much as a high-velocity pellet gun. I agree with the position the NRA had when I was a kid (and a member): guns should be registered and gun owners should be licensed and trained. Unfortunately, the Association changed course (fascinating what money can do), and I didn't.

Not for nothing, in those places where firearms can be kept in Base Quarters, the percentage of homes with one or more guns is typically half or less that of the surrounding civilian population.