When people are powerless, they are easily manipulated.
-Rashid Rehman, human rights lawyer
from the article “Pakistan”, National Geographic, September 2007
I hear about the powerlessness of certain people, and every time, it irritates me. I know that sounds strange, but the truth is, we are only as powerless as we allow ourselves to be. This too may sound strange from someone, like myself, who believes in an omnipotent God (a true discussion of that should occur, but it’s close enough to say, for the moment, that I am of the Arminian mindset).
If you perceive yourself as powerless, then you are. There has been a lot of outcry from the G.W. Bush hating segment of society (I am hesitant to call them “the left” as that, frankly, tars the left with a brush most don’t deserve) about how powerless they are to change things. However, if they would embrace the 2nd amendment, and the freedom (and responsibility) it represents, then they might begin to understand that they are not powerless.
The strong majority of 2nd amendment supporters (as in 99.99%), have no desire to overthrow the government. Frankly, they just want to be left alone. The people who say they want government out of people’s lives, do nothing to keep the government out, but increasingly pass and support laws that increase governmental intrusion (and, these people are on both sides of the political isle).
The whole 2nd amendment thing is really a side issue, but a symbol of the situation. People feel powerless, and thus act like it. Wilberforce (as was Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and many others), was a great example of showing the power of a single voice. What was seemed useless against entrenched power and influence of slavers, eventually won. Wilberforce refused to see himself as powerless. There is so much more to this, but my major thought in regards to this is:
Powerlessness is perception.
