I am putting this under our Rights area, because I believe it applies:
We are in a time when education, knowledge, and the ability to use critical thinking matter. However, we also live in a time when we cannot teach fast enough to save the day.
I turned on CNN this morning as I am doing my creative writing, log books, and I am scared by what I see and here. Pres. BHO went on attack over the use of "radical" to differentiate members of a group who are a problem, or should we accurately say "radicalized." The Pres. talked in circles over and over, and all he did was play sandlot games in his high office to bully a, or all, candidate(s) who are against his whore girlfriend Hillary.
I am also seeing and hearing how they are using the correct term "semi automatic" as the new evil machine.
This couple hours of news in my ears, without 100% attention, I have realized how much I value my parents and other elders, my teachers from kindergarten through college, Sunday School and other church meetings, and my good friends who challenge me. Americans need to have in their skill set the skill of critical thinking - The ability to evaluate what is being said and weigh it against all facts from multiple angles. This is not something that can be taught and learned in short order, but even though many don't have it today does not mean we should not assist them to learn it to be prepared for the future.
As a side note, I just saw a very short bit where they interviewed a gun shop owner, in Orlando, about his thoughts on purchases and people on the Terror Watch List. The interview was choppy and cut short - What did he say? I was asked in a poll what I thought on that at one time (Poll by anti-gun group). They asked about Terror Watch List and also No Fly List. I said if you are on the list according to our Right of Due Process I supported them being denied other rights and freedoms, but if it was as today I did not support it. They pressed me several times for a yes or no, and I refused to back down until they added the words "As the rules stand today," to which I answered I the lists don't matter, and you should be able to purchase and keep.
At the end of a long rant, here is a thought for a while:
How do we interact with people we don't agree with in a way that they understand our beliefs and we help them to understand better the facts.