I recently posted responses to a 2nd Amendment fanatic's reflexive defense of a status quo that’s contributed to a new normal where mass shooting/murder occur so frequently people need to specify which shooting they're referring to in a particular state. 1/
Specifically, I focused on the fact that 2nd Amendment fanatics claim that they have a “God-given” right to their gun fetishes. There seems to be several things at play with the God-Given claim. 2/
First, it’s an attempt to place gun regulation above reproach, but fails to recognize that: 1) their God doesn’t have any jurisdiction over non-Christian/atheist Americans who are put at risk and even killed by their gun fetish….3/
....and 2), the (1st) Amendment that’s listed directly above (implying primacy over) the 2nd Amendment in the U.S. Constitution establishes a separation of church and state. So any gun right given by the constitution was not…..and cannot…....be “God-given”…....4/
Second, the “God-given” claim once again exposes what is often a frequent relationship between religion and narcissism as analyzed here: 5/
and…6/
…..and, Third,… based on some of the responses, it is apparent that the irrational hysteria surrounding the defense of 2nd Amendment, even in the face of frequent mass shootings/murder, primarily involves two things: Fear (“Feelings”)….7/ 
…..and the subordination of Rights…. Both of which tie into a religiously-empowered sense of the collective narcissistic entitlement as seen through the lens of “God-Given” rights. 8/
Dating back to “Manifest Destiny”, this country has invoked religious/divine moral authority as justification for its collective national narcissism, which.....over time.... has morphed into a form of dysfunctional, flag-worshipping brand of patriotic entitlement. 9/
This country’s narcissistic entitlement can be seen in everything from energy consumption (the U.S. has 4.5% of world’s population consumes 18% of its energy), garbage production (17.7%), and as evidenced by the fact that 70% of the U.S. is obese/overweight,….10/
…by the fact that it consumes way more than a necessary share of the planet’s food supply…which correlates/contributes to a mental health epidemic resulting in the U.S. consuming 50% of the world’s pharmaceuticals (270 million antidepressant prescriptions filled in 2013). 11/
As is often the case, Trump isn’t the cause, but he is both a symptom and an accelerant, where those with particular susceptibilities become conduits for his “#TrickleDownPathology”, which couldn’t be more on display than with the gun/shootings issue…. 12/
….by people who claim a “God-given” right to an inanimate object (gun)….created from a document drafted by men…..which implicitly exposes the personal, cultural, religious, and national narcissism that permeates this country: 13/
Essentially, the God-Given gun right argument appears to be:
1) The U.S. constitution is a bible-like document codifying the will of *MY* God that...
2)...imparts inalienable, "God-given" rights upon *ME*.
3) And since *MY* God is greater than your God,… 14/
1) The U.S. constitution is a bible-like document codifying the will of *MY* God that...
2)...imparts inalienable, "God-given" rights upon *ME*.
3) And since *MY* God is greater than your God,… 14/
….or since *our* God loves Americans more than non-American Christians, and/or non-white American Christians, *MY* rights supersede your rights……even if *MY* right involves an inanimate human construct….and *your* right involves remaining alive….15/
4) Moreover, even if *you* do pass these Religious/Nationalism/Ethnic purity tests (white Christian American)…..*MY* rights (unfettered access to guns) supersede your rights (life) because @benshapiro told me that *MY* “facts” don’t have to care about your feelings (fears)….16/
Of course this completely (obliviously/ignorantly/intellectually dishonestly) ignores reality: Their “facts” are nothing more than subjective, bias-confirmed, NRA-manipulated feelings of fear that they claim take priority over an actual right to life… 17/
….and….18/
The pathetic, ridiculous, hypocritical irony to all of this, as evidenced by the responses listed above, is that the pathologically irrational level of gun fanaticism/defense is fueled by the very things that 2nd Amendment fanatics condemn: 1) their own *feelings* of fear…… 19/
…and 2) subordination of rights, which as this reply implicitly states: gun fanatics’ lives are not worth less than victims of crimes, but victims of mass shootings lives are worth less than lives of gun fanatics….who apparently are ok w/this lives-for-Rights tradeoff. 20/
Essentially, 2nd Amendment fanatics’ argue that although other people’s fears cannot infringe upon their gun rights, the 2A fanatics’ *right* to not live in fear supersedes the rights of others to not lose their life. This not only highlights the hypocrisy of their argument,…21/
…but it exposes the political exploitation of the pervasive, society-wide narcissism causing people to believe their gender/race/tax bracket/religion allows them to live in a gated-community center of the universe that everything must revolve around….22/
….And anything or anyone threatening the continued expression/satiation of their narcissism creates fear, and is something to be oppressed and quashed. 23/
One of the paradoxes of the “your fears don’t override my rights” argument can be seen w/the border situation, where immigrants who share a common humanity, and in many cases a common God, have had their rights trampled (and in some cases, lives taken), due to a government…. 24/
…that acts on and exploits 40% of the country’s fear of brown people. In essence, the immigrants’ God-given rights are being superseded by the political Right’s fears.
Please tell us again how "facts don’t care about"…..and "rights can’t be overridden" by…..feelings/fear…25/
Please tell us again how "facts don’t care about"…..and "rights can’t be overridden" by…..feelings/fear…25/
If God loves all his children, shouldn’t the U.S. prioritize immigrants’ safety over the Political Right's fears? Again, this highlights how collective societal narcissism has risen to the level of sociopathy, and is being justified by human constructed constitutional rights. 26/
One of the things that has occurred with the gun debate is that by invoking religion with the “God-given” claim, 2A fanatics have once again implicitly embraced what they claim to abhor: identity politics. 27/
…and….28/
...and....29
Of course there is one important distinction as pointed by
@parrhizzia is that:
“There are two forms of identity politics in the US - the grievance/persecution type of whites, and the aspiration type of minorities.”….30/
@parrhizzia is that:
“There are two forms of identity politics in the US - the grievance/persecution type of whites, and the aspiration type of minorities.”….30/
….. which continues to be on display in the current mass murder/shooting epidemic where 2nd Amendment fanatics adopt an aggrieved, persecution complex that been a hallmark of Trumpism. 31/
The mass shooting epidemic exposes the Right’s identity politics-inspired religious narcissism that manifests as not just a lack of empathy for other people's feelings and fears, but a lack of empathy for the lives already lost, and the imminent loss of life in the future.....32/
