Mass Shootings: Where the True Evil Lies

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/26/opinion/letters/mass-shootings-evil.html

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To the Editor:

Re “Don’t Blame Violence on ‘Evil,’” by Esau McCaulley (Opinion guest essay, June 11):

Writing from a theological perspective, Mr. McCaulley observes the inadequate application of Christian notions of evil when pro-gun politicians lament the presence of evil within the heart of the shooter while ignoring the evil within a society that encourages such acts. He writes, “They have a deficient doctrine of sin and evil, limiting it to the individual.”

From a psychological perspective, this should be seen for what it is: a rationalization that allows those opposed to gun safety measures to abdicate responsibility for their culpability for gun violence in our country while avoiding seeing themselves as “sinning” and “evil.” And without this sense of responsibility, there is no room for action.

A similar mechanism is at play when pro-gun advocates emphasize mental illness in the shooter — a myopic viewpoint that ignores our society’s sick relationship with guns and projects all “sickness” onto the shooter.

Illness is not confined to the individual. Case in point: After mass shootings gun sales go up; this is a symptom of our sick culture. Unless and until this sickness is more thoroughly acknowledged, fighting gun violence will remain an uphill battle.

Larry S. SandbergNew YorkThe writer is a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College.

To the Editor:

Esau McCaulley brings a helpful theological explanation of gun supporters’ tendency to blame evil in the heart of mass shooters as an excuse for inaction on gun safety. But for this non-theologian at least, there is a clearer point: Those in positions of power who fail to take action to reduce gun deaths among our children are the true embodiments of evil.

Scott BirnbaumNewton, Mass.