Forget gun control and mental health issues as a way to stop school massacres such as the Florida shooting last week. Martha MacCallum wants you to know that God is really the answer!
In dealing with the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida – a shooting that left 17 people dead – Fox News is trying to blame everything but guns for the horrific tragedy. One diversion was brought to us by Martha MacCallum whose guest informed us that if only our culture embraced more religion, things would be so much better.
On her Tuesday show, MacCallum showed images of Parkland students and families grieving at funeral services while she set the anti-gun control theme: “These images are heart-wrenching and they have ignited a fierce debate in this country as politicians, the media, and beyond all try to pin the blame on gun control or mental illness. But outspoken NFL player Benjamin Watson has this message for everyone.”
Before speaking with him, MacCallum read Watson's recent Facebook comments, displayed as a visual in the background: ”While justice demands this young man in Parkland, Florida be held accountable for the heinous plan he carried out by his own volition, we must have the courage to take an honest assessment of our culture in its totality and how it relates to this tragedy and others like it.”
When asked by McCallum to explain his comment, Watson said that when tragedies like this happen, we “talk about respecting life” but fail to consider “our culture as a whole.” He provided, as examples, the incarceration of young men and the “murder” of millions of unborn children. He suggested that parents “step back” and assess what they are “teaching our children.”
In advancing the Fox meme that guns are not to blame for school shooting, Watson said that it is easy to blame guns; but, the “larger aspect” is identification of where “we’ve gone wrong” as a culture and “have the courage to fix it.”
MacCallum described the unfortunate circumstances of Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz’s life and played video of his foster parents discussing how Cruz followed their rules. Her question to Watson about what could have been done provided Watson a pulpit from which to preach the Fox/right-wing gospel.
Watson replied, "When you take faith out of the public arena, when you take God out of there, people suffer. And whether you believe you’re a Christian or not, those principles really carry us through.”
He referenced his father who says that a lot of people of his generation “are pointing to the fact that when we start to remove God from the public sphere, we start to suffer the consequences.” He expressed the desire to reach out to troubled youth in order to share “the love and hope of Christ.”
MacCallum cited Pew data that shows fewer people who identify as Christians and asked Watson the reason for the decline. Watson, who didn’t have an answer, talked about the need to “respect all life.”
MacCallum read more commentary from Watson’s Facebook: “Over this week, while we have been driven to our knees as countless voices invoke prayer, I am haunted by the fact that this very exercise is forbidden in this school and thousands of other schools across our nation. I ask myself, ‘If He is God in crisis is He not also God in peace?’”
While Watson acknowledged that laws might be important, we can’t just “come to God” when a tragedy occurs but, rather, “be submitting to him daily in our lives” by helping others. (Not big in the GOP) Striking just the right Fox note, he criticized the removal of prayer and the Ten Commandments from public schools and God from the public sphere. He ended by asking why we can’t trust God in times of peace.
MacCallum concluded: "Benjamin Watson, wise man."
Mr. Watson did make some valid points – especially about valuing black lives. (Hear that Fox News!) A deeply religious man, he seemed well intentioned and interested in making the world a better place. But he was used by Fox in order to advance a pro-gun agenda. And that’s not making the world a better place…
Watch it below, from the February 19, 2018 The Story With Martha MacCallum.
“What’s a thought, Sister?”
“Sit down, Pence junior. Patience please, class. You’ll be told what your thoughts are when Father O’Reilly arrives.”
There are a few things these shooters have in common and its not just mental illness. These are: generally youthful, male, socially isolated, and with easy access to weapons of mass assassination. It is an equation that is seen over and over again.
If we could actually talk about these things without causing fainting spells in the 2nd Amendment crowd, we might find solutions. I tell the gun lovers I know that if they want to preserve their gun rights they better help solve this problem. Just ignoring it isn’t going to work anymore.