Another mass shooting. This time in an elementary school. Young children gunned down randomly and mercilessly. Is anything sacred or precious any more?
It is probably too early to say much about what happened. Emotions are still raw. But my mind won’t stop thinking.
What is going on in our nation?
My first thoughts go back to quotes I remember reading from some of our founding fathers.
“Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation. No theoretical checks, no form of government, can render us secure. To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea.” –James Madison
“Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt. He therefore is the truest friend of the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue.” –Samuel Adams
“A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom.” –Patrick Henry
“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” –John Adams
“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom.” –Benjamin Franklin
With one voice, they made a simple observation. Freedom apart from morality eventually turns into anarchy.
Our society can pass as many gun laws as it wants. Install the most secure check points it can muster. Apparently this school in Connecticut had just implemented tighter security measures weeks before the shooting. Put all of the public on lock-down. Is that what we have come to? There were guns fifty years ago but no one seemed interested in shooting children in an elementary school. So what has changed?
We have lost our way.
We have pretended that you could destroy a society at the foundation and still somehow maintain a secure structure. We are addicted to momentary pleasure, to unbridled lust, to fifteen minutes of fame, to violent entertainment, to doing things our way, to freedom without responsibility, to ignoring God and exalting self.
“Everybody did what was right in their own eyes.” (Judges 17:6; 21:25).
Is there anything that can still shock us out of our complacency?
Over 2700 years ago, Isaiah described a society that had lost its way.
- Materialistic. Keep on adding more and more stuff to an emptier and emptier life. (5:8-10)
- Hedonistic. Wake up and party all day without regard for what really matters. (5:11-17)
- Atheistic. Flaunt your sin and dare God to prove that He exists. (5:18-19)
- Relativistic. Redefine “sin” and make it acceptable, even virtuous. (5:20)
- Humanistic. Boast about your own power and wisdom while things crumble around you. (5:21)
- Nihilistic. Trumpet the meaningless of life while glorifying “heroes” who entertain the most, drink the most, take advantage of the most. (5:22-23)
The human heart hasn’t changed much in 2700 years. We are still biting the serpent’s lie and thinking that we can find life apart from the Giver of Life, satisfaction apart from the Creator of our souls.
Where will it end? I don’t know.
But 2000 years ago, a Baby was born called “Immanuel.” God with us. The God of the universe did not choose to condemn His rebellious creatures but rather to redeem them. He did not destroy our sickened world but rather entered into it. In a stinking stable. To live among us. To die for us. So that our hearts of stone could be replaced with hearts of flesh. So we could have light in the midst of darkness. Joy in the midst of despair. Life in the midst of death.
Indeed, as we pray for the children affected by this tragedy in Connecticut, the Child of Christmas is still our only hope.
This is a great post and we need to hear it, thanks for sharing Steve. You have hit many issues that plague the USA – but they do, in fact, plague the whole world (USA isnt alone). Being an overseas worker, I can tell you that I witness these sin issues within every culture – they just might manifest themselves in different ways. As a small example to what you are writing above about violence, the Batman movies were very dark – I think most people would agree on that. Then those shooting happened in the movie theater and everyone was outraged and saddened. Then a few days later, many Christian leader friends I have (i.e. pastors, etc.) were back on FB commenting on how awesome the movie was. Something seems amiss here. We have accepted violence as a norm in our Hollywood culture and this can seep into our whole culture.
One (very small) aspect I would disagree with is that I do believe having better gun control laws, meaning outlawing the purchase of semi-automatic assault weapons and ammunition, would help curb extreme acts of violence like these. If you look at mass killings in the USA over the past several years, almost all of them were carried about by assault weapons. At some point, and today is not the day, America needs to address this issue.