What if?

What if?

Dateline 3/13/13

“Kids”

Uncle Stevie has revisited the gun issue again after reflection of the debate generated over his poignant piece “Guns.” This time he focuses simply on protecting school kids from future tragedies like Sandy Hook. Realizing that evil and violent mental health issues will be ever present, and nothing short of the government confiscating all guns in private hands will curb such events from happening in the future, the idea of training and arming willing and able teachers is the best course of action in protecting our school children from another such tragedy at our schools. You will need to purchase his new non-fiction kindle single essay “Kids” from Amazon for only $.98 to read his thoughts on the matter and what drove him to this surprising conclusion. All revenues from the purchase of the essay will be donated directly to an NRA fund committed to offering effective gun training and protection courses to teachers and school officials who serve as the immediate front line of defense in protecting our children in a school environment.

Regardless that the above paragraph is a piece of fiction on my part (or knowing ahead of time his feelings on the NRA), I ask one simple question… Would your reaction to purchasing the essay, primarily because the donations would go to the NRA, be any different from that of the offering of “Guns?”

Nope. I would buy it and read it. Once I purchase something it is no longer my money, what the recipient of that money then chooses to do with it is their own choice. Then again, I'm fortunate enough to live in a country where guns aren't viewed as tools that are no more dangerous than a spoon! :wink2:

Seriously though, allowing the politics, opinions and beliefs of a writer to influence whether or not you read their work is ridiculous. I have friends who differ from me in many ways, especially when it comes to religion. I believe in God, they don't. That doesn't mean I like them any less or refuse to have anything further to do with them. I don't understand why people are so offended that King actually had the audacity to voice an opinion. And so what if he charged for the essay? That's his choice, and up to us as readers to decided whether or not to buy it. It makes me laugh the amount of times I read about "freedom of speech" but then King expresses that right and people go boooohoooo. Ho~ho~ho!

If I had an informed opinion on the NRA, I might or might not buy the piece. I don't see Tom Cruise movies because I don't want his church to see any of the profits, and I don't shop at Wal~Mart very often because I don't like the way they treat their employees. So, yeah, where my money's likely to wind up is something I think about.

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Originally Posted by ~Ally~

Nope. I would buy it and read it. Once I purchase something it is no longer my money, what the recipient of that money then chooses to do with it is their own choice. Then again, I'm fortunate enough to live in a country where guns aren't viewed as tools that are no more dangerous than a spoon! :wink2:

Seriously though, allowing the politics, opinions and beliefs of a writer to influence whether or not you read their work is ridiculous. I have friends who differ from me in many ways, especially when it comes to religion. I believe in God, they don't. That doesn't mean I like them any less or refuse to have anything further to do with them. I don't understand why people are so offended that King actually had the audacity to voice an opinion. And so what if he charged for the essay? That's his choice, and up to us as readers to decided whether or not to buy it. It makes me laugh the amount of times I read about "freedom of speech" but then King expresses that right and people go boooohoooo. Ho~ho~ho!

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Ally… you I believe!

But I’m not offended that King voiced an opinion, nor that he charged for the essay. I just don’t like having to donate to something I find to be on the extreme opposite end of the debate from where I stand, in order to read and discuss the essay. It just is counterproductive to starting the debate when neutrality is compromised IMO.

As an example… (to me anyway) it’s sort of like when my township was having discussions on density housing. They were proposing doing away with an ordnance that requires a minimum of one acre of land in order to build a house… for a large farm which was purchased by a developer. But in order to develop density housing, they would need to run public water and sewer, and in the process requiring any homeowner to tie into public water and sewer that reside along its pathway… at a cost to the homeowner of $10,000. But in order to voice my opinion at a “second” meeting on the subject, I first had to “donate” $10 to the legal fund for the township which would be utilized to fight lawsuits against having to tie into public water and sewer (long story). The anger over having to do this overshadowed any chance of reasonable discourse.

I wouldn't buy it on principle, because I'm anti-NRA. I also wouldn't attempt to debate his opinion without having read the essay. I'd keep my mouth shut, and pass up the opportunity to debate until someone loaned me the essay to read. That way I could be informed and not have contributed to an organization I don't care for.

But until then, I'd stay silent about Mr. King's opinion or the piece of work.

I would buy anything he wrote and he could do whatever he wanted with the money.

Because I have a long standing relationship with SK's writing I feel like I can trust him enough to do the right thing.

I feel the same about In 'N Out. I don't know what they do with their money but they are a 100% Christian business, which I don't agree with. But I have seen enough from them to think that they'll do the right thing with their money.

I don't trust Wal-Mart or Chik-Fil-A so I won't shop there. I think it just depends on the level of trust I have for the organization and the "relationship," if you will, that I have with them.

How come "Kids" is only 98 cents, but "Guns" is 99 cents?

You don't want to give the NRA anything else to get fired up about.......

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Originally Posted by exzel

But I’m not offended that King voiced an opinion, nor that he charged for the essay. I just don’t like having to donate to something I find to be on the extreme opposite end of the debate from where I stand, in order to read and discuss the essay. It just is counterproductive to starting the debate when neutrality is compromised IMO.

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Ahh, but you didn't have to donate, I offered to loan you my copy. That would have been win~win for you ole boy! :wink2: I understand your perspective, though, knowing the money is going to a specific organisation that you and many others disagree with could seem counterproductive to creating an unbiased/rational debate. Depending what side of the fence you're on! However, I don't know hardly anything about The Brady Campaign, but it's my understanding they're about preventing gun violence and implementing reasonable gun laws. They aren't trying to ban all guns, so I don't see what's wrong with advocating for sensible laws to be enforced in the hope of saving lives in the future...or am I missing something regarding their agenda?

Pee Ess; did you pay the $10 to voice your opinion at the second meeting? I'm just curious. :smile2:

Can I buy them for my Nook, or are they only available for Kindle?

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Originally Posted by Out of Order

How come "Kids" is only 98 cents, but "Guns" is 99 cents?

You don't want to give the NRA anything else to get fired up about.......

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Boom, boom!

You just made a funny. :y: