The Sharpened Spoon

This is an old post that I felt bears repeating seeing as how similar events have played themselves out a couple times since then, with similar results.

April 16, 2007
Yesterday I wondered aloud if the topic of conversation we were choosing for our public discourse was really that important, could the strongest nation on earth really be this obsessed with an off color joke, told in bad taste? Is this really the discussion we want to dominate the American political landscape at this point in history?

(Or more recently, should congress really be holding hearings to determine if jocks are really dumb enough to shoot their bodies full of harmful drugs? Come on, these are the same guys who used to crush beercans on their heads to impress chicks, leave 'em alone! They found the only way that anybody was going to pay them more than minimum wage to workout and play all day, and they're not vainly attempting to educate highschoolers in American History in their off period, so it's a win win situation!)

Today the sun was dimmed, today a dark shadow fills the sky, today one young man takes the lives of thirty others and all we can do is ask questions. All we can do is ask questions, invade people’s privacy and point fingers. Why didn’t they stop him, why did he do it? What was he thinking, how can we stop this from happening again? Out trot the experts with their PHD’s RN’s, MD’s and tell us what may have been on the young man’s mind and tomorrow will come the experts in school safety to tell us how we can avoid being the next victim.

I heard tonight that I, yes I too, am a victim of this tragedy, that because of my exposure to this horrific event via the media I may be traumatized and should seek psychological help should I find it difficult to sleep or find myself dwelling on this terrible massacre. I may even need medication. Along with the explanations will come a multitude of excuses for what has transpired, he was mentally ill, depressed, genetically predisposed. The victims will suffer from “survivor’s guilt” or “post traumatic stress disorder”. The experts will run in with their societal label guns like some global closet organizing team! These labels, do they really help? Or do they serve to further cheapen the sacrifice of lives?

The thing you will never hear is the truth, we live in a fallen world, you are no better than he. Any one of us under the right circumstances would be capable of our own atrocities. But the labels make us feel safe, we are not like him, we can be tested, treated, medicated to avoid repeating his “mental breakdown”. You see humanism has no label to admit to the depravity of man. There must have been something uniquely wrong with this young man to make him malfunction in this way. What they don’t realize is that he is the normal product of a society which places little to no value on human life, we, the uninitiated masses, we who have never taken up arms against our fellow man are the ones that are working against the odds.

So we work to treat the symptoms rather than attacking the problem at its root. We will investigate the university’s security, the police department’s response procedure, we may even argue to enact new legislation (we can’t even enforce the laws we already have, gee I got an idea lets make some more, after all last time I checked it was ALREADY illegal to ,oh, I don’t know take a gun and shoot thirty people!!??) we will do anything, anything at all to keep from admitting that it is past time for us to get on our face before God and in an attitude of humility beg Him to spare us from His just wrath! We will continue buying tickets to the same movies, plugging in the same games, listening to the same music, reading the same books, making the same jokes, practicing the same complacency that has led us this point already.

Solutions of course are a dime a dozen. As for me I intend to hold my own sons close and tell them about how precious EACH human life is in the eyes of God. In this way their will be three young men who will think twice before alleviating their pain at the expense of others. My heart goes out to those effected by this senseless act. I know that as in all things God’s purpose will be served but I also know that God mourns the loss of those lives with us. Pray, pray that we will seek God’s face before it is too late, that we will see our own guilt in allowing things in our own neighborhoods, cities and states to deteriorate. That we have judged prents and children alike when they showed signs of starting down the road of degradation. Like the Pharisees we are extremely adept at pointing out the faults of others but lousy at lending a hand to help carry the burden.

Pray that the truth spoken by De Toqueville will serve as our warning, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” Not being a part of the problem is not cutting it anymore, salt is supposed to be a preservative, WE are the solution! (yeah, I know technically He is the solution but he works through us and HE’s not the one who needs motivating right now)