Remembering Waco - and Gandhi

by Dr. Kelley Elkins / ANextStep.org

I prefer to consider myself a Constitutionalist. This article, however, is not about the Constitution, nor is it about rights. George Orwell once wrote to Mahatma Gandhi requesting a blurb on an article he was writing on human rights. Orwell was shocked upon receiving Gandhi's reply of "No, thank you." So, in amazement Orwell wrote again asking why. Gandhi replied that he did not support human rights. That instead he supported human responsibility.

I suppose we will always have the opportunity to remember Gandhi and his stand of non-violent civil disobedience. For it was repeated successfully in Denmark during World War II and again in Tennesee during the early sixties. It happened successfully in South Africa against apartheid and again in Chile against Pinochet. It happened in Poland against the Soviet Union. It will happen again somewhere, sometime. People will realize they've had enough and that the oppression, suppression cannot be denied any longer. Or the people will realize that ignorance is not bliss.

As a result of the recent presidential election fiasco, when are we going to wake up? We would like to think that we are brilliant enough to decide who we want as president and that the president really does have a say. That the president elect really is a good guy. That we really do have all of our Constitutional "rights". Is this what makes us feel safe? If we feel safe in these beliefs, then why do we arm ourselves with guns? If enough of us band together with guns, do we believe the government will have to listen? It is my opinion that armed people will end up as another Ruby Ridge, Wounded Knee or Waco.

Although the government may allow Sadham Hussein to live, they will not allow armed agitators to live in the United States without trying to control them. It is "suggested" they attempted to chemically lobotomize Reyes Tijerina while he was in the New Mexico State Penitentiary in the late sixties. Tijerina attempted an armed uprising for the "rights" of the Mexican American citizens of New Mexico, Texas, Arizona and California under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

I don't pretend to know what happened at Waco, Texas in the early nineties. However, from all indications, they had guns and although it is not too farfetched to consider that the government would shoot its own people to stage a "terrorist incident", I believe the people at Waco freaked and opened fire. Guess what happened next? Guns only bring about more guns and guns are for only one thing ... killing.

A few years ago, a friend found out that I was knowledgeable in the desert and that I "knew" how to track, find water and survive. So we did some short desert sojourns and during these treks, he got me interested in showing him the ways of making weapons from the terrain. Then it occured to me to ask why he was interested in making weapons. His response was that "it was going to be me against them". I think my mouth may have dropped a bit, because he looked at me strangely. All I could say matter of factly was, "You'll lose."

Rambo and all the hero's of Hollywood are just that ... Hollywood. There are very few heroes and most of them are dead. Guns only bring about more guns. And guns are only designed for one purpose ... to kill. I have yet to understand the reasoning behind the "need" for any citizen to own an assault rifle or automatic pistol. Who are they afraid of and how do they think they will "win" against a military or police "show of force"? If you feel like you absolutely "need" to protect yourself against druggies, rapists or robbers ... move. Live somewhere else. The reason Gandhi and the people of India succeeded is because they were willing to move into fearlessness.

If we are going to make a change in this wonderful country it has to be without guns. It has to be through and only through responsible decision and action. Oh, yes, I know we are given the sheeps wool of "it's to protect the public." Well when is the public going to protect itself? When is the public going to stop defending itself against it's own fears?

The answer is in responsibility. When the public gets off its duff and becomes responsible for its own actions and decisions, then we will no longer need a big brother to take care of us. Is your brother or sister, mother or father still protecting you? We have the opportunity to indeed grow up and be responsible for our own actions and stop screaming for protection against the "bad" guys. Walt Kelly as Pogo said it only too well, "We have found the enemy and he is us."

Martin Luther King Jr also said it well: "The highest form of maturity is self inquiry." All the answers are within us. We have got to stop blaming and start healing, and then indeed, be willing to become responsible for ourselves. I cannot be responsible for you any more than you can be responsible for me. We can and must be responsible for ourselves. We must stop relying on the government to protect us.

Is your lifestyle responsible? I'm not talking morals ... however, do you support freedom of choice, religion, speech, press, etc? Are you willing to find what is truth for yourself and allow others to do the same without imposing your will on them? Are you mature enough to own your fear, put the gun down and concede that it is okay to disagree? Peace only occurs through conscious activity, compassion and if necessary, non-violent civil disobedience. Are You Awake?

Email Dr. Kelley Elkins at kelley@anextstep.org


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