Ah, the TV western: Gunsmoke. Bonanza. The Rifleman. Have Gun Will
Travel. Rawhide. Wanted: Dead or Alive. Maverick. Lawman, and on and on.
Everybody carried a gun, didn't they? When the Western moved to the city
streets, the gunfire got turned up a notch, thanks to Charles Bronson and Clint
Eastwood. It wasn't about guns anymore; it was about BIG guns. But who was the
strongest law man on the TV screen? Hands down, it was Sheriff Andy Taylor. He
demonstrated his strength by NOT wearing a gun. He was not just the strongest,
but also the wisest. Today, we would even say he was "centered". But
he also understood Fear, which is why Barney Fife was allowed to carry a gun.
And carry one bullet in his pocket. Our nostalgia for the "good ol'
days" too often leads us to think of the frontier myth, the man who did
his talking with at least one gun in his hand. He was the "rugged
individual". He needed no one as long as he was armed and prepared to
shoot. When we think in these terms today, we are turning our backs on two of
the cornerstones of civilization: community and compassion. And when this
happens, the first thing to go is common sense.
We have created a world that gives us the illusion that we don't
need each other. We can do our grocery shopping; buy our gasoline; do our
banking; do most of our shopping for clothes, appliances, wine, flowers, and
car insurance without ever interacting with another human being. The person in
front of us in the check-out line who writes a check may be exercising his own
freedom of choice, but to us, he is a nuisance and an unnecessary intrusion
into our world. What is easiest and quickest is, by definition, what is best.
In other words, the less substantive something is, the better. We only want
what is on the surface, the appearance. We no longer want to wrestle with the
complexities that lay in the depths of experience. But it is there that Life
dwells. We choose instead to be a beautiful corpse. Thoreau put it this way:
"Why should they begin digging their graves the moment they are
born?"
The fear that we feel now-- the fear that we are encouraged to feel--
comes from this superficial way of life that we have chosen. But "The
Depths" will not be ignored, and we can feel them constantly, despite our
best efforts to deny their existence. This uneasiness translates into fear --
fear of the unknown, fear of Death, fear of appearing foolish, but
mostly, fear of others. And it is this fear that leads so many people to reach
for their guns. It is not really for self-defense that so many people claim to
need firearms. Rather, it is the fear of being exposed as a vulnerable, weak,
and needy person. In other words, it is the fear of confronting our own
humanity. We have created a world that makes us feel god-like: informed
(omniscient) and powerful (omnipotent). It is the most beautiful illusion Man
has created, and despite what History tells us, despite what sacred writing
tells us, we continue to strive to make this illusion our reality.
Andy Taylor saw the humor in this hubris. He saw the irony as
well. He allowed Barney Fife his one bullet because he knew that deep within
himself lay that same fear and that same desire to appear powerful in the face
of danger. Oh yes, he certainly reached for that trusty shotgun of his, but
always as a last resort, not as the kind of knee-jerk response we could expect
from Barney. Law enforcement to Sheriff Taylor meant keeping the community
united, not "locking up the bad guys" who, in Barney's eyes, seemed
to lurking around every corner. Every day, both locally and nationally, we are
subjected to situations that ask us to make tough choices about how we are
going to respond to threats. How we view those threats is just as important as
how we seek to confront them. If we see them as threats to our own personal
safety and security, we will allow expediency to come to the forefront. If we
see them as threats to the cohesion of our neighborhoods and communities, we
will look for solutions that benefit everyone, even those whom we might
perceive as part of that threat.
I don't see us thinking clearly in the days and years ahead, at least
not in the near future. History tells us that people who are united in their
goal of building a tower to the skies will ultimately fail. But from failure
can come success. However, we need to remember that the myth of the rising of
the phoenix includes a pile of ashes. The phoenix doesn't rise from towers
falling or bridges collapsing or infrastructure crumbling or a certain number
of scandals. It rises from the destruction caused by a conflagration. As
horrible as this sounds, we should take comfort that those who emerge on
the other side will be beneficiaries because Experience is an excellent
teacher. But at the same time we know that the same old story will play
out again, and committees will be formed in due time to build yet another tower
to the sky.
"When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?"
No comments:
Post a Comment