Most Americans are justifiably horrified by the recent mass
shootings and know something must be done to stop this terrible trend. In order to stop something, we look for a
cause. Since we are a varied society, we
come up with varying ideas as to how to solve the problem. The difficulty is that there seem to be
multiple factors, and different voices among us are, therefore, calling for
different actions.
Some blame it on the availability of guns, while others
believe that being able to carry a weapon is actually a deterrent. I know of people who “conceal carry” to
church. Personally, I believe in Second
Amendment rights, but I don’t think that should include anyone being able to
purchase an automatic weapon that can eject large volumes of ammunition in
rapid succession. We need to limit large
volume magazines and the types of rifles that are typically used in mass
shootings. We need a change in our gun
laws without taking away the individual’s right to own a gun for hunting and
personal protection.
Some blame mental health issues. It is true that many people who need mental
health care have difficulty accessing it.
Parents, who are aware that their child is struggling with mental health
issues, may find themselves struggling to find adequate care for their
child. For decades now, there has been a
move to deinstitutionalize people with mental health problems. They have been integrated into society,
instead of being placed in confined situations.
Some of these people cannot function adequately in society. Some are homeless. Some are as isolated IN society, as they once
were isolated FROM society. Our mental
health system needs to be improved.
Others point to violent video games and other media. Young people don’t draw as defined a line
between reality and fantasy as adults do.
Sure, my generation saw violence in cartoons, but they were clearly
goofy cartoon characters. The Road
Runner and Wily Coyote did not look like the people we lived with and
among. Now, graphics in the media are
extremely realistic. Television and
movies are filled with violence. But
seeing a bloodied corpse on the screen is not as upsetting as seeing one lying
at one’s feet. We become immune to the
gore which should be making us sick.
There should be additional limitations on what can be shown through the
media.
The media and 24/7 news are also part of the problem. A shooter knows he will gain instant
recognition. For some sick minds, that
is a reward. A famous anchor will go to
the site of his carnage, and although he/she will say they are focusing on the
victims, the shooter knows he, although he may be dead, will have power over
this situation. His picture will be
shown. His manifesto will be read. Sadly, there will be those who follow his
lead. I have no idea how we put this
genie back in the bottle!
Being incited to violence by the rhetoric of our politicians
is currently a favorite whipping boy. In
the two most recent mass shootings, one shooter had expressed white
nationalist, ultra-right views. But, the
other called himself a Democrat and a leftist.
Both parties need to become more circumspect in what they say and
recognize that what to them are just words, may become actions to those who
listen to them. Neither side is guiltless.
Now let’s get to the REAL problem. Our nation has lost its collective soul!
Our youth do not feel valued.
They know we can abort them. Too
many experience abuse and neglect. Well-meaning parents are afraid to
discipline, lest child protective service comes to their door. Children are ignored by parents who are both
working to maintain a certain lifestyle, and who are glued to their smart
phones when they are home. Children are
not given jobs in the home that make them feel like they are contributing to
the family. Parents leave the teaching
of values to the school system, which can no longer incorporate anything “religious”
into the school day. Parents divorce and
the kids are pawns in the battles between them. Single mothers struggle to play
both parental roles. Families no longer
eat dinner together and talk about their day.
Gender identity issues are no longer considered mental health
problems. Anything goes.
The book of Judges in the Bible describes the chaos and evil
of a society when “everyone did as he saw fit.”
We are in that situation. We are
told to be tolerant of other viewpoints, but we have carried that to an extreme
in which we believe it is acceptable for everyone to come up with his/her own
moral code.
Hey, folks! This isn’t
going to work!
I know that there are those who believe that if we all work
together and if we educate young people to be tolerant of others and deal
properly with their own feelings, this problem will diminish or even disappear
when coupled with some appropriate changes in laws. Having been both a nurse
and a teacher, I have observed that hard work and education do NOT solve a
problem which comes from the heart and soul.
Nor can morality be legislated.
We are in a terrible downward spiral. It won’t matter much whether 2020 brings a
Democrat into power or whether Trump gets four more years. We are looking at the fall of America, unless
we rediscover our soul. We once had
collective values. When I was growing
up, even those who did not attend church, who were not “religious,” followed
the Judeo-Christian ethic. That ethic
would be tolerant of other religious views or no religious views, but it would
not incorporate them. To be biblical,
there is a difference between “caring for the aliens among us” and “bowing down
to Baal.”
In Ezra 9, Ezra acknowledges the sin of his people. Extracting the portions of his prayer that
seem relevant today:
O, my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift
up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our
guilt has reached to the heavens…..But now, O our God, what can we say after
this? For we have disregarded the
commands you gave through your servants the prophets. …What has happened to us
is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have
punished us less than our sins have deserved….O Lord, you are righteous!...Here
we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in
your presence.”
We cannot tolerate everything in our society. We are decayed on the inside, and it is
reaching the surface and exploding outward in hatred and violence.
Our nation needs a spiritual reawakening. We need to plead for forgiveness and turn
from the evil we have been embracing.
God’s love demands His mercy, but His righteousness demands His
judgment.
Someday the Lion will roar, and that day may soon be upon us.
