Olsim: Man with the gun

“Power comes from the muzzle of the gun. Those who have guns have the power.”

WE ARE on a war, but we have forgotten who we are. Those who have grip on the metal handle plays the ghastly game of this country’s blood bath. By the end of the month, we must have seen it all; a town annihilated, local leaders dead, children killed by stray bullets, criminals and innocent people alike executed without a day in court. That physical expression of power is intoxicating.

The mob shouts “Kill them all!!” The confusing war made them quick to judge, “Kill all the criminals!” The men with guns obliged – kill, kill, kill. How about the baby who was shot dead by the overkill? “An insignificant casualty of war! The bigger picture is what matters!” the mob answered. “What about the right of the baby to grow up, to play, to laugh, to enjoy sunsets?” “We do not care about such petty rights! We care about human lives!” they maintained. Isn’t that ironic? What is it to become human and to live a human life without human rights? A lie, even if told by a hero, is still a lie. A rotting corpse will always smell, even if bathed in perfume.

“You misunderstood. It is the criminals who do not have the right to live!” retorted the mob. One child cried: “My father is not a criminal!” How will the mob know? The lowly worker was shot on his way home to his family, even before he can defend himself against the accusations.

“Another casualty of the necessary war!” alleged the minister who is ironically expected to preach the grace of God. Wait. How can they pull the trigger easily when even God has a judgment day – when souls are confronted and questioned before they can get to heaven or hell?

“It easy to spray bullets on the slums, the tambays, the ‘drug-addict looking people’, than to eliminate the source of it all.” Said the fish ball vendor. “The war is against the dirt-poor like us. Even if we survive the bullets, we will be taxed to our deaths...then, we will be forced to steal to eat...then, we will be shot as petty criminals just the same.”

***

Amidst the chaos, I must write as a realist to avoid the impression that I live in a bubble. Yes, this world is cruel, it is dark, and it is unfair. Yes, there are living monsters among us – those who chose that wicked path, and those that are products of our society’s doing.

Yes, there are times that I wish to personally hang those monsters – the child abusers, the heartless psychopaths, the hardened criminals. Yes, there are times that I want to be the one with the gun and rid this world of these monsters. Problem is, I am only a human being whose judgment will fail from time to time. The death of an innocent person, or the presence of a collateral damage, will be too heavy, a burden, for the soul.

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