Just Because Something is Normal Doesn't Mean We Have to Accept It

Last weekend, Harvey McGuinness participated in the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism's L'Taken Social Justice Seminar, which brings teens from across the country to Washington, D.C., to learn about social justice, advocacy, and Jewish values. This post is adapted from Harvey's speech addressed to Senator Tom Udall (D-NM). For information on how to get involved with the youth-led Reform Movement mobilization to end gun violence, visit www.NFTY.org/GVP.

There have been three shooting threats against my school just this year. Students at my school have been charged criminally. A student was taken off my campus because he had bullets in his backpack. And yet there hasn’t been any impactful legislative change.

I have four younger siblings. Each one of them is a world to me in and of themselves, and since the 2014 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, I have had to realize that my worlds might end. I am in charge of keeping them safe however I can, but I can’t block a bullet at a school across the city. But I can try, I can speak, I can demonstrate, I can plead, I can do whatever I can to stop that bullet from being fired. 

My brother has been dropped off at school amidst police searches. I have had to walk past armed guards in my halls. The terror that this plague of lead has inspired in students is not only a subconscious fear but is also at the forefront of our daily conversations.

Children fear for their lives in the hallways of schools across this nation. I wince every time I hear something hit the floor. Every time a door slams, every time a book hits the floor, every instance of a questionable sound is no longer dismissed as safe in my mind. Rather, I can’t help but fixate on the all too real “what if.” I wish I could go back to being naïve. I wish I could go back to believing. I wish I could go back to thinking that I am safe. But I am not, and to say so is an affront to the lives of children everywhere.

Deep down it is my duty to explain to other people that these shootings, this mass bloodbath in twenty-first century public space, has become a numbing norm.

If I have learned anything over these few months of terror and activism, of tears and speeches, it is that just because something is normal doesn’t mean we have to accept it. Change in this world is impossible without discussion, and it is irresponsible for me to believe that others will push for change on my behalf if I don’t tell them to do so and if I don’t tell them why it is necessary.

The Ten Commandments order that we must not murder, but it is not enough to simply condemn acts of gun violence. In the Torah, Chapter 19 of the book of Leviticus commands us not to stand idly by while the blood of our neighbor is shed. We as Reform Jews cannot stand idly by the regular slaughter of American civilians. We believe this country has stood idly by for too long. We believe that every life encompasses an entire world. We will not stand by; we cannot stand by while worlds are destroyed. Sensible gun violence prevention legislation can save the lives of people across this nation. It is our duty to work for the betterment of our country. Watching the bloodshed of children is a reprehensible abdication of faith and of duty. Any less than our petitioning for this redress of grievances is an insult to the lives that have been lost and contradicts the core tenets of our religion. As Reform Jews, we aim for a world envisioned by the prophet Isaiah -- a world where people beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. We shun weapons of war, and believe they have no place in civilian society.

We are urging lawmakers in the Senate to support the Assault Weapons Ban of 2017 (S. 2095) and the Background Check Expansion Act (S. 2009). The former seeks to ban military-style Assault Weapons and high capacity magazines, and the latter seeks to close the private sale loophole and ensure that all those who are purchasing firearms have passed a Brady Background Check. Weapons of war belong on the battlefield, not in our homes, schools, houses of worship, or other gathering places.

Harvey McGuinness is a high school student who is active with Temple Beth Shalom in Santa Fe, New Mexico.