I was thinking this morning that posting another message about wartime loss and sacrifice might be regarded as redundant coming this soon after Memorial Day. Then again, this day, June 6, is special in its own right, just like December 7 and the memory of the Japanese attack on the U. S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii that plunged the United States headlong into World War Two. On that Sunday morning in 1941, we found ourselves at war with Japan in the Pacific, and twenty-four hours later, Japan’s German ally, Adolf Hitler, declared war on the United States. We would now come face to face with Nazi aggression in Europe, an entanglement we, as a neutral country, had avoided since the war in Europe began in 1939.

Less than three years later, the Allied forces brought their combined strength to Europe to repel the German invaders, whose occupation of most of the countries on the continent had been destructive and brutal. Hitler had declared to the ungrateful people of those occupied countries that they should welcome his establishment of a Fortress Europe on the ludicrous rationale that he was saving Europe from Communism, immorality (read: homosexuality), and the evils that stemmed from the activities of “treasonous” (read: anti-Nazi) intellectuals. But the horrors perpetrated by the Nazi invasions of neighboring countries were about to be brought to an end.

It was 78 years ago today, June 6, 1944 when the Allied forces undertook that fateful mission. D-Day. Code-named Operation Overlord, that dreadful day saw thousands of casualties as American, British, and Canadian troops stormed from their landing craft onto their assigned beaches. It was a grim, bloody encounter, and the American troops who came ashore on Omaha and Utah Beaches took the brunt of the German resistance. The GIs were coming in from the sea, there was nowhere else to go but forward. They ran into the face of withering direct machine gun fire from a solidly entrenched enemy. But they took the beaches, and they took extremely heavy casualties. Airborne and glider units had been dropped off target and were scattered into German Wehrmacht-infested areas, but the fragmented units linked up where they could and proceeded to their missions. The liberation of Europe had begun. It ended on May 8, 1945, V-E Day, after almost a year of heavy fighting.

I think it is still important to remember D-Day and its significance for the shape of post-World War Two Europe, and indeed the world. Out of that alliance of the western nations of the Atlantic came the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO. It is still relevant today as we observe the unfolding of Russian aggression in Ukraine, and the combined response of NATO to meet that challenge. Putin will learn Hitler’s lesson.

Finally, I would like to remember the service of my uncle, Private George A. Marrash, 23^rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. George was severely wounded during the Normandy invasion and was evacuated to England where he died of his wounds a few weeks later on July 17, 1944. He along with so many of his fellow soldiers died for the moral and civic values we and other true democracies hold dear. Let’s not permit ourselves to lose those values to lies, demagoguery, and the fanaticism of extremists. That’s what the citizen-soldiers of the greatest generation went out on D-Day to defeat.

As a people, we Americans customarily celebrate this day with parades, picnics, and lots of happy gatherings of families and friends. And having decorated our homes with American flags and banners, and perhaps having attended a local parade, as an appropriate tribute to the fallen heroes of our wars, we turn our attention to the barbecue, sports, and some all around frolicking. This is as it should be normally.

But there is nothing normal about this Memorial Day. For today we have moved beyond the remembrance of the brave and faithful fallen who answered their country’s call. Today an infernal fate has driven us to confront unimaginable loss and pain, and we cannot look away. For today we must also remember the slaughter of the innocents at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Nineteen children whose ages ranged from 9 to 11, and two of their teachers. A slaughter only a few days old . A tragic story full of familiar grim episodes, whose repetition continues to condemn us as a civilized people and haunts our pathetic consciences as we scramble to repeat ad nauseam that “things need to change.”

The necessary changes have been known for decades, but the carnage continues. All-or-nothing thinking has hobbled the ability of responsible people to take any sensible steps to reign in the excess of gun violence in every kind of vulnerable location. The Second Amendment to the U. S. Constitution is not under assault! Those who use that pretext to obstruct any and all responsible restrictions (such as universal background checks and age eligibility) on the acquisition of firearms must bear on their consciences the blood of innocent children. The majority of responsible gun owners also support such common-sense legislation, but the opposition, a very small minority that bullies politicians into parroting their “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” narrative, has for years successfully blocked any change. And scores of innocent people, especially our children, have paid the price.

Hollow calls for change have always faded quickly after each tragic incident. Of course, real change has long been needed, and above all, change in the uniquely American worship of the gun, venerated as a sacred object held in reverence above all human critique or interference. No citizen thinks twice about restrictions associated with automobile ownership and operation on the public roads. There’s no complaint about not serving alcohol to minors. And we voluntarily give up some of our personal freedom in numerous situations where special circumstances require it. But we permit no such limitation on our behavior when it comes to the gun. Whenever any action to limit how guns may be acquired or used is proposed, our reaction is visceral. “This shall not pass!”

What about our kids, then? Oh, we do care deeply about the children, claim the gun lobbies, and we advocate arming the teachers in the classrooms. Put more armed security guards in schools. And do more about mental health problems. There’s the real cause of the violence. But we don’t want universal background checks (even if that might have stopped an eighteen-year-old from legally buying an AR-15 and hundreds of rounds of ammunition as soon as he turned eighteen). That was precisely what happened in the sale of the AR-15 and ammunition to the shooter in Uvalde, Texas. Law enforcement authorities tell us that a mere check for a police record is insufficient. All offenses committed by juveniles are expunged once they turn eighteen, so they have no police record. But a complete background check could have uncovered other evidence that showed disturbing behavior. Such red flags might have delayed access to the weapons until a proper intervention could have been made. Would that have happened for sure? No one can say, but it would have provided an opportunity for intervention. Instead, the door to insane violence was thrown wide open.

Speaking at the NRA Convention following the elementary school massacre in Uvalde, Texas Senator Ted Cruz portrayed any attempt to legislate restrictions as interfering with a “human right.” Isn’t that something? Having a gun is a human right! A thing given by God. Are we to suppose that’s what the founders of our republic had in mind when they said that “All men are created equal, and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” But they did not go on to say that “among these are life, liberty, and the unrestrained access to weapons of mass destruction without regard to safety, common sense, or any obligations owed to our fellow man.” That self-styled interpretation is left to our generation.

Some raise the cry of “we will lose our freedom.” Or that “leftists, liberals and other undesirables are trying to restrict our freedom, our liberty. We need our guns to defend ourselves against a potentially tyrannical government.” So they marshall all of the resources of social media, sympathetic mass media, and politicians whose election campaigns they have generously funded to harangue their supporters and the general public with the spurious narrative that any restriction on guns will be the “slippery slope” that leads to repeal of the Second Amendment. And so they assure that public fear about the Second Amendment produces inaction once again. And the tail continues to wag the dog!

Among all of the advanced nations of the world, we have the highest rate of gun violence and death, by far: eight times more than our neighbor Canada, 27 times more than Denmark, and 250 times more than Japan. Even in the conflict-ridden Middle East, the United States ranks higher in gun violence than all of the countries there except Iraq. Compared to 22 other high-income nations, the United States’ gun-related murder rate is 25 times higher (from a 2016 study published online by the American Journal of Medicine). Yet we have roughly similar rates of mental illness as in all of those countries. Mental illness is not the pivotal factor in this country’s rate of gun violence. It’s the irresponsibly easy access to guns. There are about 400 million privately owned firearms in the United States, while our population is about 333 million. The U. S. has 5% of the world’s population, but we represent 46% of global private gun ownership.

Columbine, Parkland, Sandy Hook, and now Uvalde. If nothing changes this time around, I predict we will continue down a demonic path to destruction of what was best in American society. The Atlantic magazine recently ran an article by Elizabeth Bruenig titled, A Culture That Kills Its Children Has No Future. Sadly, I agree. We used to believe in a common destiny and the kindness and compassion of a free, law-abiding people who understood their rights and also their obligations–a responsible and honorable people who cherished these values that they sent their fathers and sons off to war to defend. Every Memorial Day, we remember and honor their sacrifice, as we remember and honor them today. And with profound sadness, we must also share this day of remembrance with the fallen children of Uvalde and all of the other schools, churches and synagogues, hospitals, and grocery stores that have seen the slaughter of the innocent.

I’m posting this brief announcement to give notice of my upcoming absence. I expect to be AWOL from the website for a few weeks. This is not a shutdown due to Covid-19, fortunately, but simply a temporary hiatus brought on by my need to have surgery on my eyes: Tomorrow, Thursday, 3 February. I suffer from a condition called glaucoma that has proved difficult to control with medication and simpler procedures, so I will be having a more invasive, but hopefully more successful, intervention that will require a recovery period of several weeks. The irony is that the concept behind Agath – opsis, its very name, proceeds from the notion of a “vision”. So, I do find it ironic that it is my (temporarily) impaired vision that brings things here to a halt although you do not have to have good vision to have a vision of the good. I expect to resume again several weeks from now once both eyes have been treated and recovered. Until then, I hope you will come to the site, visit the Blog and the pieces in the Contemplations section, leave comments, and make suggestions for improving site design or navigation.

I will see you again soon, when I can see better.

For other lovers of language and of languages, I offer this modest website as a place to gather and share your ideas and insights about language in all its multifarious aspects. As I mentioned in my introductory message, I will post some short pieces of mine that were published some time ago in another venue. You will find them under Cogitata on the Contemplations page. Republishing these gives me a way to start the project off with the intention that these pieces will stimulate your desire to contribute your own thoughts. I also hope that some of my humor will find its mark, although my family says I am several years behind the humor curve in today’s popular culture.

My goal is to host a circle of interesting conversation on things that affect us all as human beings whose unique tool for understanding the world is language. So stated, I will do my best to assure that this becomes more than a trivial exercise in stating the obvious or a pedantic expatiating on language as though one had all the answers; however, I do anticipate lively engagement, especially when considering language in its many societal contexts. Recent history at home and abroad surely supplies ample material for consideration.

As I welcome you to Agathopsis, I ask for your patience as I muddle through the process of getting this website properly organized. I expect that I will need to set up appropriate categories for the blog, and do whatever else is necessary to make this an attractive, easy-to-use site–a place where together we can contemplate the good.

Meanwhile, go ahead and look around this embryonic site, and make yourself at home. I will be grateful to receive your suggestions.

Going forward in 2022, my wish for everyone is that you attain peace of mind. While we have not been able to free ourselves completely from concerns over Covid-19, medical science has made rapid strides in developing vaccines and many of our fellow citizens have gotten vaccinated. Our efforts to combat the disease are beginning to pay off despite the resistance of an uncomfortably large number of folks who refuse the vaccine and advice from the medical community. That resistance has needlessly left us with ongoing vulnerability; nevertheless, the battle is being waged effectively enough that most of us can see light at the end of the tunnel–a far cry from the onset of the Covid crisis in February 2020. Yes, it will still take more time to analyze the virulence of the emerging variants of this rapidly evolving virus and to develop more tools to fight off their transmission and impact across our society and across the globe. So have faith. We will get there.

But another disease has gripped our nation that we have not yet been able to address effectively. Unbelief. We have been too long adrift in the current of that pernicious attitude, an attitude that seeks to undermine our very existence as a nation. Why? Because we are afraid. Fear has spawned cynicism and unbelief in the great American experiment and in the decency of our fellow citizens, unbelief in our institutions public and private, unbelief in our government, unbelief in the components of our democratic society that have underpinned our achievements as the most open, creative, productive, and economically successful society in human history. All because we are fearful.

Have we now reached the point of unbelief in ourselves as one nation? Are we to give up on everything we have achieved since our founding fathers first set us on the road to freedom and prosperity in a world where we were a novelty? Indeed, we were a novelty that few around the world expected to survive. But we did survive, and thrive, and we became a magnet for people from all around the world who wanted to build a better life, here, in America. We believed in our institutions and our way of life, and we welcomed those who wanted to share the promise of America with us. That’s how we grew our achievements and successes, by building on the diverse contributions of all those who came here to share the dream with us. We all believed that we could achieve the dream. And we did.

We have never been a perfect society; we have had our problems large and small at all levels of society, but we believed in a free society that respected the rule of law and the peaceful transition of power. And we depended on our constitution and in the tools of government that it provided to guide us to improve and evolve. And we believed in the goodwill of our fellow citizens, our neighbors. We believed we could fix our problems, achieve great things, and become a beacon of light for the world. And we did. By working together, Americans all. One nation, the United States of America.

Through world wars and civil crises, in the face of natural disasters and vicious terrorism, we have risen to all of the challenges thrust upon us and overcome them. Are we less able to do so today? Or do we lack the will? The world is watching to see how we answer those questions.

It’s time to dispel unbelief, to replace cynicism and fear with optimism and hope. It’s time to get hold of ourselves and stop fearing one another. Demonizing our fellow citizens with whom we don’t see eye to eye ultimately devalues the humanity of each one of us. We can disagree respectfully while remaining friends and rallying around the core American values we all share. There is a place for everyone to be heard, so let’s not disparage the sincerity of one another’s patriotism. Rather, we must stop tearing down our beloved country and start believing again in who we are, Americans all, and renew our commitment to our national ideals. Remember, at a dark time in our history, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt told Americans, “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.”

The land of the free and the home of the brave is our heritage. Let’s face the challenges of the future together: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Welcome to my first post. I expect that this blog will evolve as I become more accustomed to this form of communication, and perhaps receive some feedback. I thought I would begin the experience by posting to the website some brief essays on curiosities of language that I had written some years ago for an organizational newsletter. I hope they will bring a chuckle as well as spark a desire to delve more deeply into this uniquely human faculty called language–something we use every moment of our lives, spontaneously, but seldom pause to consider as the marvelous phenomenon that it is.

From time to time I will reflect on issues large and small, current affairs, social change, history, myth, ideology, and religious faith. Like all of us, I have my personal views and biases, but I hope to approach all topics with humility, an open mind, and sincere willingness to listen to and understand another’s point of view. I hope to do so in the spirit of a line from a play by the Roman playwright Terence (Publius Terentius Afer), “homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto,” “I am human, nothing pertaining to humanity is foreign to me.”

Language, in my experience, plays an inseparable part in nearly all of human behavior,” so it should come as no surprise that my thoughts, concepts, social, and political ideas involve an appreciation of language and its use in various circumstances. If any visitor to my site or future interlocutor obtains some value from what I post here, that will truly be an added reward for me.