Altrove/Elsewhere – Isaiah vs. Joel

By Daniel Leisawitz*

Thus He will judge among the nations and arbitrate for the many peoples, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks: Nations hall not take up sword against nation; they shall never again know war. (Isaiah 2:4)

Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears. Let even the weakling say, ‘I am strong.’ (Joel 4:10)

The United States has a major problem with guns. There is no other way to explain the inflated number of mass shootings that occur in the U.S.: not mental health, not terrorism, not gun-free zones, and not any of the other excuses put forth by well-meaning (and not so well-meaning) people who erroneously interpret the Second Amendment to the U.S. constitution to mean that citizens must have unfettered access to firearms. Other developed countries have similar or higher rates of mental health issues, terrorism, and gun-free zones, and yet their rates of mass-murder are far below that of the U.S. The weakness of the pro-gun arguments is made clear in a series of jaw-dropping graphs which accompany an article published by the “New York Times” on Nov. 7: “What Explains U.S. Mass Shootings? International Comparisons Suggest an Answer” (https://nyti.ms/2j79rRs ).

Examination of the graphs makes clear which country is the outlier in two categories: number of mass shooters; and rate of gun ownership.

Until our federal government takes serious steps to control the number of guns (particularly handguns and semi-automatic rifles, which are primarily designed for no other purpose than the killing of human beings), we will continue to suffer the horrific effects of this glut of guns.

Will the U.S. follow the hopeful exhortation of Isaiah or its disquieting reversal uttered by Joel? Judging from our increasing number of guns and our shrinking number of farmers, it seems the U.S. prefers Joel. Of course, when read in context, it becomes clear that in his incitement to take up arms, Joel is speaking not to Israel, but is exclusively addressing “the other nations” who will be called to judgment for their mistreatment of Israel, while the Jews will be protected: “But the Lord will be a shelter to His people, a refuge to the children of Israel” (4:16).

But it is not even necessary to have recourse to the Bible: common sense and a discerning mind are enough to make clear the necessary path forward.

*Daniel Leisawitz is the Director of the Italian Studies Program at Muhlenberg College (Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA). The artwork is by Abraham Cresques a 14th-century Jewish Spanish cartographer.