Men

Gun’s Quote-of-the-Week:

 “Anything less than a conscious commitment to the important is an unconscious commitment to the unimportant.”

-Stephen Covey

I'm going to start a new annual tradition here at the Gun's Quotes. Each year, I volunteer for a week for an organization that is near and dear to my heart: The American Legion Boys State of Missouri.

I have been asked this past week why I dedicate a week of my life, using my own vacation time at work, to volunteer to watch 1,000 17-year-old guys. While there are many reasons, I feel that a Gun's Quote that I have written in the past best summarizes my reasoning for committing to this organization which I am so proud to serve. Therefore, from here on out, it will be repeated each time I come back fromBoys State. That said, here we go:

Sorry, ladies. This week’s Gun’s Quote is not for you. I just need to take a moment to speak with my fellow brethren. Please don’t take it personally.

The world’s biggest problem right now is men. That bears repeating. The world’s biggest problem right now is men.

Look at our prisons. Their occupants are 95% male. One in 75 men in the United States is in prison. Rape, murder, drug charges and even white-collar crime are all dominated by men.

Look at our families. Of those families that are single-parent, 80% are single-mother. When one parent walks away from a relationship, four times out of five, it is dad. Men initiate more divorce than women. While our media is exceptional at getting our attention when a mother harms her children, they conveniently gloss over the fact that there are billions of dollars of unpaid child-support in the US by defaulting dads.

Look at our movies. “Hall Pass” is a comedy based upon our societal view on men, and guess what? I’m not laughing. “Oh, Gun…” you might say, “It’s just a movie and it’s just a joke.” Is that fact?

Well, let me tell you some more facts. We have a world where guys are still living at home after college, (or moving in with whomever happens to be their girlfriend at the time) where their idea of a good time is to drink themselves under the table and hook up with the pretty bimbo at the bar, where they spend their money on the latest video games and home theater systems, and, oh yeah, let’s not forget the car. There is a reason why the Farrelly brothers’ latest travesty-of-a-motion-pictu​re topped the box office the weekend it came out, and it’s because the majority of us think it’s cool.

And marriage? Why get into marriage when there are better looking girls on the internet, right? John Mayer even brags about sexually gratifying himself and how doing so is so much better because he doesn’t have to worry about the commitment of marriage, <sarcasm> BUT THAT’S OK because at least he isn’t cheating on a wife.</sarcasm> He even relegated women down to a playing with a box of crayons with each woman being a different color that he wants to use to color HIS life. Unbelievable.

Don’t take my word for it, though. After all, I’m just a prude with a draconian view on masculinity and the role of the man. Rather, look at the titles of these recently published books on “man-boys” in our day: “The End of Men,” “Are Men Necessary?” “The Decline of Males,” “The Death of Macho,” and my personal favorite, “Women will Rule the World.”

To quote one book: "We are sick of hooking up with guys… Guys talk about Star Wars like it's not a movie made for people half their age; a guy's idea of a perfect night is to hang around the PlayStation with his bandmates, or a trip to Vegas with his college friends. Guys feed you Chipotle and ride their bikes in traffic. They are more like the kids we babysat than the dads who drove us home.” If this isn’t damning, I don’t know what is.

Guys, I have no idea what it will take for me to convey to you that our world is failing because of our own selfishness, apathy and laziness. Women are hurting and our world is crumbling. We have problems from climate change to poverty to violent crime and oppressive governments all the way down to a 50% divorce rate, broken homes and families and “fatherless” children. No wonder gay “marriage” is becoming so prominent… Anything looks better than the wreck men have left families over the course of the last three or four decades. We will soon be living in the repercussions of millions of men choosing to not commit to anything but their own gratification. They’ll put it off, drag it out, or turn a blind eye because they are too busy looking out for themselves and lusting after their own personal entertainment.

Get over yourself. Your world is not a playground. It doesn’t orbit around you. It needs you. It needs you badly. Quit being a pansy and complaining about how it’s too hard or what’s in it for you or how you’d rather crack open a beer. You have a God-given duty to perform a God-given purpose in this world.

You have an obligation to serve those around you who know nothing of the luxuries that you splurge in day-in and day-out. You have the ability to serve your world, build-up your community and country, love your wife and children and make the world a better place to live. If the world's biggest problem is men, then the world's greatest hope is men.

This is why I take time out of my year to serve 1,000 of the best young men the State of Missouri has to offer. It is my observation that the inspiration that this program provides to these young men imparts upon them the obligation to make their world a better place. It is a joy and an honor to serve an organization such as this, and it is my hope that I may continue to do so for many years to come.

…and that’s why I serve.