Reflections after the Orlando attack

To the editor,

I am an American.

Do not ask me if I am white or black, gay or straight, Jewish or Muslim or Christian, male or female.

Ask me if I believe in what our Founders believed. In life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In freedom.

I believe that all Americans deserve freedom.  As Franklin Delano Roosevelt so well defined it in 1941, as we headed into the darkest days of the 20th century, this includes freedom to speak as I wish, or to remain silent — although now I cannot in good conscience remain silent. Freedom to worship as I wish, or not to worship. Freedom from want — from hunger, from homelessness, from ill health, from crushing debt, from feeling alone and uncared-for — and I believe this includes feeling uncared-for by institutions and by government.

And freedom from fear. Will I fear you simply if I see you as different than me? Our founding document, the Declaration of Independence, tells me not to: All are created equal.

To those who believe that owning a gun makes you stronger, safer, I ask you: Do you want me to fear you?  Do you want others to fear you?  I do not want to fear you, any more than I want you to fear me.  Do you want to live without fear? If you do, what do you have that gun for?

I believe that as Americans we individually and collectively have the right to live without fear — a much deeper right than any perceived “right” to own any gun, any time.  A country with a “gun culture” cannot have freedom from fear.

I want all of us to live together as Americans, I want all of us to live without fear and I believe that something in this country needs to change.

Oren Helbok