"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan" - Prov. 29:2
"...that we may live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness" - 1 Timothy 2:2
"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people" - Prov. 14:34
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Monday, May 7, 2018

Why So Many Mass Shootings?

Every society has had evil people, but today we have people who seek to murder as many of their fellow citizens as they can. This did not exist in our society 50 to 60 years ago. So why do we have it today? There may be many factors, but consider the connection to other changes in our society in the last 50 to 60 years:

* Prayer was removed from schools, so students are educated without acknowledging their Creator.

* The Bible was removed from schools, so students are educated without learning the principles of right and wrong revealed by their Creator.

* Instead, schools teach evolution and Humanism, so kids grow up believing they evolved from animals that in turn came from swamp slime by a series of accidents. They conclude that life is all an accident having no meaning, there is no absolute standard of right and wrong, no eternal consequences for their conduct, and they are accountable to no one higher than themselves.

* Television, movies, and music grind out entertainment filled with violence. Computer games and the Internet train young people to practice shooting and killing others in a virtual world, then we wonder why young people shoot others in the real world.

* Encouraged by the Women’s Liberation movement and our welfare system, couples live together without marriage. Then, no-fault divorce laws allow homes to break up, so children no longer have a father and mother who love them enough to keep the home together and train the children to know right from wrong and respect authority.

* Marriage is no longer viewed as a lifetime commitment between one man and one woman. When anybody regardless of gender can call themselves married, young people see marriage as a selfish relationship for self-gratification. So, they do not learn the responsibility and self-sacrifice of a lifetime commitment to love and care for another individual.

* Pornography on the Internet and electronic media bombard people with sexual stimulation, leading young men to view women as simply objects to be used selfishly and then discarded, when they ought to be respected and protected.

* Abortion and euthanasia lead people to believe that human life can be cast aside for our convenience, so young people grow up with little or no respect for human life.

* Some "religions" actually teach young people that mass murder of other people is not only justified in the name of God but will actually lead to eternal life.

* And other churches and preachers often fail to defend man’s responsibility to submit to their Creator, so young people grow up without learning their responsibility to obey God, live morally decent lives, and sacrifice for the good of God and other people.

* And many in the fields of psychology and medicine convince people they are not responsible for their conduct. If they mistreat others, they are simply sick and it is not their fault. So they are prescribed pills with no moral guidance and no accountability.

* And politicians use so-called separation of church and state to drive God and His word out of public life, in complete disregard for all that the Bible teaches and all that our founding fathers ever intended. And those who get punished are those who would speak up for God and His word.

So, whether consciously or not, many young people lose all respect for God, for themselves, and for other people. If there is no God, if life is the result of a meaningless series of accidents, if there are no eternal consequences for our lives, if there is no absolute standard of right and wrong, if babies can be murdered before they are born, if own parents do not love their children enough to keep the family together and train children to live a decent life, and if violence is nothing more than a form of entertainment, why should they not practice violence?

In other words, our society has encouraged people to selfishly please themselves, to realize no responsibility to truly love and care for others, to enjoy and be trained in violence, and above all to disregard Biblical principles of right and wrong revealed by their Creator. And then the people who promoted these views have the brazenness to act like they are horrified and confused about why we have mass murder!

This society has lost its way because they have lost the true God.

Romans 1:18-32 – For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness ... because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools ... And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are ... haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things ... who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

We have sown to the wind and now we reap the whirlwind – Hosea 8:7.

The question for you and me is this: Will we accept and follow the way of the world, or will we refuse to conform to this world and be transformed by the renewing of our minds that we may prove what is that good and acceptable will of God – Romans 12:2. Will you recognize your Creator, accept responsibility to obey His word, and give your life to His service?



[Note: After preparing the above material, I found the following documentation regarding those who have been guilty of mass shootings:

"Nearly every shooting ... in Wikipedia’s [2013] list of U.S. school attacks involved a young man whose parents divorced or never married in the first place."

An article in The Federalist in 2015 reported the following:

* Of young males in CNN's ‘27 Deadliest Mass Shootings in U.S. History,’ only one was raised by his biological father.

* There’s a direct correlation between fatherless children and teen violence.

* Fatherless children are more than twice as likely to commit suicide.

* Seventy-one percent of high school dropouts came from a fatherless background.

* According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, "Fatherless children are at a dramatically greater risk of drug and alcohol abuse."

* Two of the strongest correlations with gun homicides are growing up in a fatherless household and dropping out of school, which itself is directly related to lack of an active or present father.

– Friday Church News Notes, March 23, 2018, www.wayoflife.org

Another article reported:

* "Psychologist Dr. Peter Langman, a pre-eminent expert on school shooters, found that most came from incredibly broken homes of not just divorce and separation, but also infidelity, substance abuse, criminal behavior, domestic violence, and child abuse."

* "...criminologists Michael Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi, ... found the absence of fathers to be one of the ‘most powerful predictors of crimes.’ [Brad Wilcox] explained that fathers are role models for their sons who maintain authority and discipline, thereby helping them develop self-control and empathy toward others, key character traits lacking in violent youth."

* "Many of the school shooters struggled with a sense of ‘damaged masculinity’ and sought to become ‘ultramasculine.’ Langman says that at the end of this spectrum is ‘getting a gun to suddenly have power.’

– Emilie Kao, The Daily Signal, 3/13/2018]

(C) Copyright 2018, David E. Pratte
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