The punishment for mass shooters needs to be extreme and immediate. They need to die by a firing squad. This will be a way to help curtail the number of shootings versus putting the shooter on the front page of Time, Newsweek and every major news outlet. Without all the infamy, they will cease.
I no longer feel safe in my own house of worship.
The recent synagogue shooting at the Chabad of Poway synagogue hits close to home.
I am a member of Chabad of Kauai. Chabad is small, it’s like ohana. Any Chabad house, as they are referred to, welcomes Jews of all denominations for any Sabbath service and a free meal called an Oneg after services to kibbitz (talk story) and to enjoy the Sabbath. Members become Mishpachah (ohana). Chabad is also known as a home away from home for any Jew no matter what their affiliation.
Although I do not frequent services as much as I once did, the recent shootings not only at Chabad but the Easter Sunday shootings at the Catholic church in Sri Lanka, and the recent mosque killings in New Zealand, are signs of the times that terrorists and crazies are out for us all.
Shopping malls where children are thrown off balconies, mass shootings of our youth in our schools and running cars into crowds and killing people is now accepted as just another day in America. According to data from the Gun Violence Archive, a total of 340 mass-shooting incidents occurred in the U.S. in 2018 (that’s nearly one mass shooting a day).
If the Lord can’t protect us in our own houses of worship, I am happy to watch religious services streamed on the Internet. The stress and anxiety from sitting through a two to three hour service is too much for me.
It’s a different world these days, and just like Amazon.com has shut down many department stores, I believe the new church, synagogue and mosque will live in cyberspace, and most people will go to services the same way they shop, via the internet.
Many will say that by doing this we are raising the white flag and telling the terrorists and nut cases they have won, or is this just part of a new world order and inching closer to the end of times?
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James “Kimo” Rosen is a Kapaa resident.
