Daphne Farago (above) passed away quietly on Sunday, at the ripe old age of 94.
It was the end of a tough life for my Mom, psychologically speaking. She lost both her parents at an early age. She left her native South Africa as soon as she could, met my father in post-war Germany, emigrated to the States and raised three boys. But she never found the inner peace she needed. That we all need.
Truth be told, Mom made my life tough, too. To be fair, even the worst of us do our best to raise our kids, trying to give them the tools they need to survive. In my case, guns weren’t on that list. No sir.
But Mom taught me other skills. Like the value of sheer bloody-minded stubbornness. (More charitably, persistence.) And I learned something important about gun rights. Namely . . .
There are people who will never be comfortable with the idea of average folks carrying a gun (as per their natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms). No matter what.
Pro-gun rights arguments using reason, statistics, facts and common sense were like water off a duck’s back for my Mom. Her anti-gun animus was resolute. Illogical. Unshakeable.
I eventually heeded Jonathan Swift’s advice — “Reasoning will never make a Man correct an ill Opinion, which by Reasoning he never acquired” — and gave up. But I discovered that love can lead to tolerance.
As my Mother headed down the final furlong, she gradually realized there was no reason to be so hard on her third son. As she mellowed/ran out of energy/found love, she became tolerant of my views on guns. Or, to be more precise, resigned.
While Mom could never bring herself to say the name of this website — calling it “your gun thing” — she eventually asked about TTAG’s health without the biting condemnation that typified her general view of my life choices. (Many of which did indeed suck.)
My takeaway from this evolution? Be nice to anti-gunners.
Sure, gun control advocates are trying to take away a right upon which your very life and all your cherished liberties depend. D’uh! But personal civility is the only way you’ll ever make progress with progressives.
If you don’t treat anti-gunners like scum, they might — not to say they will — but they might stop being such *ssholes. Which, I’m afraid to say, is sometimes as good as it gets.
As for my Mom, all is forgiven. In fact, it was a long time ago. Rest in peace, Mom.