In the wake of his return from a months-long sabbatical over the resurfacing of old sexual-misconduct claims — which he still won’t talk about — Michael Brown is trying to stay away from controversy, even on subjects he has been vocal about in the past. In an Aug. 30 WorldNetDaily column about the shooting at a Catholic church and school, Brown made a point of saying:
But my purpose here is not to debate the issue of gun control. Or the need for more police protection. Or our rampant problems with mental illness. Or the fact that the most recent shooter was a deeply confused, trans-identified individual.
[…]Again, I am not focusing here on the question of gun control or mental illness or police security, or other related issues.
Of course Brown wouldn’t discuss gun control — he’s a right-winger, after all. But it’s surprising that Brown wouldn’t indulge in exploiting the “trans-identified” shooter. He has spent years denigrating LGBT people, even dismissing Caitlyn Jenner as “just a man in a dress.” Instead, he tried to take a larger view:
Instead, I want to point to a larger issue, that of our national sickness, our national pain, our national wound.
In short, when children are intentionally gunned down in cold blood, with some killed and others critically wounded, and when this is not an isolated phenomenon, it is a symptom of a deeper spiritual cancer.
[…]My focus here is to say, once again, that something is profoundly wrong in a country where several hundred children have been slaughtered in cold blood in their own school buildings – including elementary schools – in recent decades, while others have been slaughtered in their houses of worship.
[…]How does the Lord feel about all the bloodshed in our nation? And note that I have not said a word about the ongoing termination of innocent lives in the womb or of our national murder rate.
Guns are a significant part of crime and violence, but Brown won’t talk about that. he’d rather voice platitudes about “the unspeakable tragedy” and “the cry of the innocent.” Anything to take full responsibility for his actions, apparently.