I’m sure that by now everyone is aware of the terrible terrorist attack that took place Saturday night at Pulse, a gay bar/club in Orlando, Florida. The terrorist in question, Omar Mateen, pledged his allegiance to ISIS shortly before the attack. The day that followed could have been predicted. People took to their Facebook and/or Twitter pages to post and tweet about how the victims and their families are in their prayers, and the days to come are predictable as well. It seems that here in America a mass shooting is no longer a big deal. Yeah, people morn for a day or two...and then move on, only to forget that it ever happened. Then a couple of months later, it all happens again. And the cycle continues. Rinse and repeat. It’s the same shit, different day.

Depending on where you fall on the political spectrum, most people have an idea who the blame belongs to. If you ask the run-of-the-mill Republican, the blame is on Islam and Muslims everywhere. If you ask the run-of-the-mill Democrat, the blame is on guns, and if you dare criticize the religion of Islam, you are racist. I fall on the left side of the political spectrum, and I am a bit farther left than most Democrats. With that being said, I believe that both sides are wrong and right in their own ways.

Hear me out.

One thing you are not supposed to do as a left-winger (I no longer call myself a Democrat since I realized that the party is now just a shell of what it used to be) is protect Islam and Muslims against the hateful rhetoric that Republicans often decide to spew. Democrats often say that not all Muslims are to blame for the mass shooting. They are correct in saying that. To all the Republicans who say that one Muslim extremist represents the entire religion at large: by that logic, the KKK represents the entire religion of Christianity at large. Both arguments are admittedly ridiculous and instantly dismissive. Omar Mateen did not and does not represent all Muslims any more than Upton T. Martin (the current Imperial Wizard of the KKK; a self-describe Christian organization) represents all Christians. However, to say that the religion of Islam is completely innocent here is foolish.

Islam, despite what many moderate Muslims say, is not the religion of peace. Rather, the religion itself is very barbaric when taken literally. Don’t believe me? Here is a quote from the Quran about homosexuality: “For ye practice your lusts on men in preference to women: ye are indeed a people transgressing beyond bounds... And we rained down on them a shower (of brimstone)." Many Islamic scholars interpret this passage literally and believe that the “shower of stones” means that gays are to be stoned. That doesn’t seem so peaceful to me. In fact, it seems rather barbaric. To their credit, there are many moderate Muslims in the Middle East and in America who condemn this type of behavior. However, pretending that the religion is not the cause of radical Islamic terrorism is naive.

Also on the left side of the spectrum, guns are the problem. 100 percent. Again, I must respectively disagree. The issue that Omar walked into a gun shop the week before the shooting and purchased a military grade assault riffle that has no business being sold to American civilians is a clear problem. Not to mention the fact that he was still able to buy the weapon despite being under FBI investigation twice for suspected terrorism. That’s a given. However, too many Democrats seem to be too willing to ban all guns. They propose these, to take from Hillary Clinton here, “unicorns and rainbows” policies without any real solution to fix the problem. Really, what we need in terms of guns are stricter regulations. Firstly, all assault and military grade weapons need to be banned. In terms of other types of guns, a license and registration should be required as well as a gun and safety course for all gun owners. If you are a convicted felon, you don’t get to own a gun. These policies are much more obtainable than banning all guns.

Meanwhile, on the right side of the political spectrum in America, Islam is to blame and guns are just “tools like a teaspoon.” Well, you let me know if someone can kill fifty people in a matter of seconds with a teaspoon. When you find the answer, you can join me at the adult table. Until then, beat it. Many Republicans are calling for the ban of all Muslims in the country. The problem with doing that is that would mean the whole freedom of religion thing is no longer intact, and America would cease to be what it was founded to be -- a land of freedom. A lot of Christians like to act as if their religion is better and not quite as barbaric as the Islam faith. Allow me to write a passage from the Holy Bible regarding homosexuality: “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them." (Leviticus 20:13)

So, in the Quran it says that gays should be put to death and in the Holy Bible, it says that gays should be put to death. Hmm… that has to be some sort of mistake. Can it be that the Holy Bible is just as outlandish and ridiculous as the Quran? Well, let's see here. The Bible also condemns eating shellfish (Leviticus 11:10), shaving (Leviticus 19:27), haircuts (Leviticus 19:27), tattoos (Leviticus 19:28), working on Saturdays (Leviticus 23:3), planting two different types of seeds in the same hole (Leviticus 19:19), etc. As a matter of fact, the entire book of Leviticus is dedicated to banning ridiculous “abominations” for no good reason. Oh, and if, by a chance, you do any of what is listed above, you shall be put to death. All sin is the same, right? So Christianity cannot claim to be a “religion of peace,” either.

So what was the cause of the mass shooting terrorist attack in Orlando? Well, it’s a combination of guns and religion. Not the religious people, as I understand that the few religious fundamentalists do not represent the people as a whole. That’s a given. Still, to pretend that the religion isn’t to blame is ridiculous. Also to say that guns were not a major factor is just as ridiculous. He was under FBI investigation twice and was still able to buy a gun. So, how do we fix it? Do we kick out all Muslims like Donald Trump suggests? Here’s the problem with that: we have a thing in America called religious freedom. Religion is not a race. How are we going to kick out all Muslims and still remain the land of the free? We can’t. So do we ban all guns? No, because that would create an uprising. I believe that we can ban assault weapons, but as far as regular firearms, when has banning something ever worked? What we need in America are stricter gun regulations. In fact, some argue that guns should be treated as automobiles. You must have a license to carry a gun as well as insurance, and once you go to jail or get convicted of a crime, your privilege of owning a gun goes out the window.

But what needs to happen more than anything is that Republicans and Democrats need to wake up. They need to stop arguing over the shit that doesn’t matter. We need to identify the problem and move forward for a solution. But who cares what I think? Go on. Keep arguing. I’ll see you when it happens again. When will that be, by the way? A month? A week? Will it even be that long? It’s the same old shit, just a different day. It’s time to step up and take action.