School Shootings - Of Hearts and Guns
The View from the Middle
Did you know that a 30 second commercial for this year's Super Bowl cost five million dollars? That's over $166,000 per second. Now why do you think these companies are willing to pay that much money to send such a short message about their products to the Super Bowl audience, half of which are probably going to be making a sandwich while it's running? The answer is that they expect to persuade the viewers to spend even more than that amount on tortilla chips, beer, cars or laundry detergent as a result of that investment. You might think this is an odd way to start a conversation about school shootings, but hang in there with me.
Each time this country experiences another devastating, senseless act of violence in one of our schools, our politicians' express condolences and offer prayers for about 30 seconds until they start making the same old, tired political arguments about gun control. I'm convinced that these politicians are actually not as interested in having an impact on this issue as they are in scoring political points with their political bases. The argument rages. The bases are incensed, and nothing happens because we don't want to see two of the obvious causes to this epidemic
One of these two causes is the violence in our entertainment industry. If you haven't personally witnessed the realistic violence in the video game industry, I encourage you to get educated. Just check out Manhunt, Postal or Dead by Daylight. If these don't frighten you enough, check out School Shooter: North American Tour 2012.
Now, just intertwine these violent visuals with violent rap music that is becoming pervasive in our society and we get a deadly concoction for children whose brains are not fully developed or for those who are mentally disturbed. These songs glamorize violence and murder and degrade women to the point of disgust as they refer to them as "bitches" and "whores". If Hillary Clinton is looking for real misogyny anywhere in this country, she can look to the rap music industry, but somehow, I don't think she will.
What if companies could figure out how to get millions of young adults to sit in front of a computer for hours on end (not just 30 seconds) and listen to or watch messages about their products. Do you think these companies would expect to influence these young pliable minds? Any person who doesn't expect someone who is inundated with these violent images and music for hours on end to exhibit similar behavior is in complete denial. But there is a lot of money in these games and music, so no one brings this issue up.
Then, on top of pumping our young people's brains with violence and death, we have also decided to take God out of our schools. Why would you want a Christian God, whose laws forbid lying, stealing and murder, expelled from our schools? Why would you want a God, who encourages charity to the less fortunate, demands honesty and kindness and was one of the first and most courageous feminists, driven out of our schools. We pump our children's minds with filth and savagery and intentionally remove messages of mercy, selflessness and accountability, and we are surprised when we get things like school shootings.
I am a gun owner, but I'm OK with legislation that will keep weapons of war outs of the hands of those too young or mentally disturbed to comprehend the consequences of using such devices, but I don't believe that is near the most important aspect of this issue. Even if we eliminate all guns, which is never going to happen, people will always find a way to kill. They'll run over people with cars. They'll stab them with knives or blow them up with bombs. These tragedies will continue to happen until we change the hearts of our people.
In closing I want to add that I totally disagree with Joy Bahar's condescending smear of Vice President Mike Pence. We need more people talking to Jesus, and if he decides to answer, I'm way OK with that.
How can we take action to change the violent film and gaming industry? I'm at a loss but willing to try.
ReplyDeleteFirst, we can refuse to buy, view or listen to this filth. Second, we tell our circle of influence how we feel. Third we can ask our government to pass legislation that will restrict distribution. When the money dries up, so will the filth.
DeleteWould be interesting to see/know if school shooters played these violent video games. I agree pumping kids brains with violence and violence without consequence at that, is not good.
ReplyDeleteRob, they have. Not certain about this particular one, but past shooters have.
DeleteThank you Kevin for tackling this subject: Much has been documented on the influence of games, books, media and role playing games which have shaped and formed a cutlure which is 7x more violent than a culture without TV and these influences. With your permission I would like to post and build on this. Perhaps it will provide some food for thought. The fruit is in the seed. Deal with the seed and you won’t have to worry about the fruit. First: Francis Schaeffer says in his classic work (book and video) “How Should We Then Live?” - which was published in the 1970’s and covers the key thoughts and drivers which have made western culture what it was and pointed to where it was going – Thoughts become words, words become action… words and actions write history. You can take the pulse of a nation by looking at its literature, art and music. I would add video games, TV and internet. The rise and fall of a nation is seen in these. What a person thinks in his heart will ultimately work out in words and deeds. The “law of the jungle” is what most likens modern day schools where professors are suspended to asking a student to stop selling drugs in their class room while they teach. If a teacher is attacked by a student he is not allowed to retaliate. Meanwhile, rather than helping the situation, youth film and post YouTube videos of…for instance… a boy violently assaulting a girl in a class room hallway… meanwhile students stand around and do nothing and a professor “calmly” tries to tell the boy to stop it. Thank God for the man dressed in military clothing…not sure which branch of the military… who stepped in a pulled the boy off the girl. Our nation’s children are being fed to the wolves in schools all the while apathy reigns in our nation… what can we do? Deal with the seed and inspect the roots. You will know what fruit will appear.
ReplyDeleteSecond, What ever happened to truth, to reason, to respect for the individual? Is it true that if you teach people that they are accidents without meaning and purpose in life beyond what they can carve out by their cunning and own strength… and that all of this proceeded from an electrified primordial soup… they will act egotistically, they will throw off all restraint, every man and woman will do what is right in his or her own eyes? Is this not in itself anarchy spawned from the idea “I can do what I want” and “no body can tell me what to do”? Does anyone realize this idea is the first commandment in witchcraft? History shows the first appearance of this idea was promoted by Aliester Crowley… a man who was kicked out of Italy and was known as “the beast”… a man who was best friends with Albert C. Kinsey who lived his life by the motto “anything goes” and was influential in biology and politics to the point of changing our laws in the 1960’s and influencing our culture today? Papa Doc and Baby Doc in Haiti intentionally ruled their island by keeping the people uneducated. They ruled with manipulation, intimidation and fear… all with the purpose of dominating their island. This is the essence of Satanism. Do we not see that there are no non-religious options? You will bow and submit to somebody. Religion by definition contains three components which are interrelated: 1) all religion teaches you the origin, nature and purpose of the universe, 2) these beliefs are lived with daily devotion, and 3) it contains a moral code (an ought) that stipulates what one should do…not simply what one is able to do. The atheism is a religious belief that there is no God, no creator and that the universe “is all there was, all there is, and all there will be (Carl Sagan)”. They live out their beliefs in everything they do; and their moral code is arbitrary and changing since it is based on “benefit” (what is beneficial to them at the time… yet they can’t even define this word). This 17 year old boy clearly did what he wanted and didn’t care what anybody else thought. He exercised his freedom to rob the freedom of others guaranteed by the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights… not to mention the Self-Evident truths which precede law and precede governments. Yet though classmates report they are not surprised by his actions… Where were the people to stand in the gap and point out that what he was thinking, what he was saying, and what he was doing was wrong?!
ReplyDeleteThird: Truth is exclusive. Morals are exclusive. If a moral dictate exists then by course of reason (Law of Opposites) the moment I call something good the opposite by definition is bad. All views by definition cannot be true based on this very law! Murder is evil, not only because it is premeditated, but because it the egocentrically exercise of one person’s will to exterminate the life of another person. In the Bible murder is a capital offense because each human being is created in the image and likeness of God. Therefore to kill with intent, dismember, or murder another human being is to kill the stamp of the image and likeness of God…and God takes it personal stating He will avenge and He will repay… life for a life. In fact Jesus states in the New Testament that one human life is more valuable than the whole of the universe. There is nothing you can give that can pay for a murdered life. Yet we live in a Post-Modern age where reason is equated to pessimism, and the illogical and contradictory is equated with hope and optimism; Hogwash! This is intellectual suicide. The moment I call a door a door I have discriminated against everything that is not a door. Why?
ReplyDeleteFourth: you see…By definition, discrimination in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary is the exercise of wit and reason to point out something for what it is. If I were to speed in a residential area by doing 45 mph in a 25 mph zone I can guarantee you a Policeman would see me, he would register that my speed was outside the law, he would recognize my lawlessness, he would point me out from among all the other law abiding citizens, he would discriminate against me and he would mark me and label me as a “speeder” or “reckless driver”… he would then exercise his lawful and moral duty to pull me over and confront me with the truth of the law and contrast that with my lawless deeds. By all reason, I should receive a ticket and should not complain or resist. My deeds are a result of my thoughts which have proceeded from something in my character which must change…. What needs to change? I must submit to discipline and to the law and control my speed. If I do so then I have the freedom to use the roads to travel and other people’s freedom are not compromised by my selfishness. Yet there are people who want to equate lawful discrimination with prejudicial discrimination. The first has to do and must be based on truth. The later is not based on truth and those ingrained in prejudicial discrimination wouldn’t want the truth because it would incriminate them…which means they wouldn’t get what they want. They would not be able to have their way.
ReplyDeleteFifth: Yet an there is an educated Elite who have taken control of media and some of education, others in religious circles (I am speaking of all religious circles regardless of belief or name), and some in the hallowed halls of government who want to eliminate reason, dumb down the American people, and chip away the very foundation which this country is built upon because they hate the foundational truths which shine a moral spot light on their actions. In order to do this they want to eliminate “All discrimination” both “real and perceived”… How do you obey this law? If the very moment you have a thought you have exercised reason, therefore you have discriminated as soon as you look at something, notice what it is, and call it by its lawful name? What is a law abiding citizen to do if this idea takes hold? You will find that to obey these laws you are not allowed to see, not allowed to hear and not allowed to say…anything. Definition has died. You cannot call something by its name because you will risk offending. So when you see a person in school who is wearing a swastika, talking about killing people, and joking about building bombs… then don’t believe him or her: “In the end, evil is what people do it is not who they are… “ let’s appeal to their good side. Surely there is some light in there somewhere. Yet just like Hitler, Lenin and Stalin… its amazing how people act. They so often do what they say they are going to do. where were the guardrails, puts and calls, to identify the young man who would commit this deplorable, atrocious, evil act in Florida? Where was the history class to help him understand how the ideas of Marx, Hitler, Lenin and Stalin… not to mention Mao and others … murdered millions upon millions upon millions of innocent lives. Where was the class on reason, moral and ethics which could have taught this kid to learn the difference be right and wrong?
ReplyDeleteSixth: Have we forgotten from where we as nation came? Have we forgotten our history and what birthed this nation? Have we forgotten what our Anglo-Saxon and Celtic forefathers were doing when the Bible came to England? They were drinking blood out of skulls. How are we to know where we would be without an Ontic Referent? Where would we be without a truth that is true where you like it or not or whether you believe it or not? Where would we be without the 10 pastors who wrote the Bill of Rights before having it submitted by John Adams? Some speak of a moral code within “our very fiber”; hogwash. If there was a moral code within our fiber then why did Hugo Grotius have to become the Father of International Law? Why did the 2010 BBC global study show that corruption is the #2 problem globally? Our nation since the 1850’s has systematically and purposefully removed the guardrails. Frederic Nietzsche prophesied the end result of his philosophy by stating that the 20th Century would be the bloodiest century and that a plague of madness (insanity) would break out. Why? He knew the consequences of removing the Ontic Referent. He himself the son of a pastor died in an insane asylum cared for by his mother unable to put two coherent thoughts together. A victim of his own philosophy…
ReplyDeleteSeventh: Yet this move on the chess board to eliminate all discrimination elminates reason which murders truth… it totally denies and ignores the definition of discrimination which is to “mark something for what it is” or to “point out something for what it is”. The perversion of this definition is that they equate prejudicial discrimination which is wrong and should never happen since it is based on falsehood, mis-information, a rejection of the facts, or a denial of the facts, or willing uses facts that are manipulated to one’s own end…and it makes this bad form of discrimination which has been the cause of evil in the world equal to lawful discrimination which is needed to point out that which is illegal, morally wrong, and ultimately life threatening. In applying Rousseau’s thoughts “that man should be absolutely free, and if he refuses to be free, then he should be forced to be free”… we are finding the we are so free our brains are falling out. The wicked are treated with more grace and more fairly than the innocent. Truth lies bleeding in the streets. Logic has been aborted and Reason has been euthanized. So now here is the results of a resent survey: Half of millennials (18-35) believe that Americans would be better off living under socialism or communism (55% and 7% respectively than under capitalism (42%). Only 36% of millennials have a “very unfavorable” opinion of communist ideology. They have no understanding of history… they have not heard about the Sindero Luminoso in Peru who murdered over 35,000 people. How they would blow up a building at 10:30 at night knowing people were inside. And now, President Fujimori who put the leader in jail for life (a man who was a professor at the local university in Lima and leader of this murderous group) has now been put into jail for “crimes against humanity”… imagine that: He put an end to this bloody terrorist group and is now in jail for having put an end to this bloody terrorist group. I continue with the survey: 51% of college students believe that if a controversial speaker comes to their campus, it’s OK to should down the speaker so no one else can hear him. Almost one out of every 5 college students (19%) say resorting to violence to prevent a speaker from speaking is acceptable! Have we lost our collective minds? Our nation is dying in front of our eyes! We must do the very thing that turned around Angola Jail… put God of the Bible and His Holy Word schools, and more have truth of His word engraved upon our heart. Deal with the seed and you won’t have to worry about the fruit.
ReplyDeleteMichael, as usual you have gone well beyond my small statement. Seems like you could and maybe should write a book about this. Thanks for your encouragement and added wisdom. I can only hope all my readers check out you comments.
DeleteGood commentary, Kevin. I agree. Come Holy Spirit!
ReplyDeleteBob, I always feel encouraged by your positive feedback.
DeleteKevin
ReplyDeleteExcellent. If only someone would listen and DO something. It is up to us to be proactive and take the grief.
Amen, and thanks, David.
DeleteI was intrigued when I googled the term view from the middle because I would describe myself as an extreme moderate.
ReplyDeleteI was discouraged when the talk turned to violence in culture and gangsta rap. Of the 3000 kids in the Parkland school, I'd guess more than half had played a first person shooter game. Girls included. Something so heinous never entered their minds as an option.
Have you listened to popular rap music lately? Not a lot of killing happening. That was 93-98ish.
You seemed to discount the gun aspect of mass shootings, albeit with a concession to discussing limiting young and mentally disturbed from obtaining weapons of war.
The guns, however, paled in comparison to the decline of our culture. As a practical problem-solving father and and parent in the middle myself, this seems unreasonable given the facts of the incident.
Your a "middle guy," even worked in sales at P&G. Metrics matter: What would produce a better outcome in the near term? if we banned crap video games and bad rap OR if we computerised the national gun registration, and banned weapons of war to civilians?
Seriously now answer me straight up like we were sales associates at P&G trying to achieve the best outcome.
Respectfully submitted,
John Cronan
PS to John, Have you heard Benjamin Watson's take on the school shootings? You should check him out. He is awesome!!
DeleteJohn, my point is that this is a complicated problem that calls for a multi-faceted solution. We are pouring violence into the brains and hearts of our kids, especially compared to when I grew up. We have taken God out of our schools, and I believe that has had an affect. We have too many single parent (fatherless) homes, and many believe that parents have abdicated their responsibility to actually raise their own kids. Parenting is a tough job, but we can't just allow our kids to raise themselves because it is not easy.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone thinks that more stringent background checks is all we have to do, they are sadly mistaken. In fact, that's the easy, very visible thing we can do, but it also the least likely to have an impact on this issue.
It is my opinion that "The Greatest Generation" (my mother and father's generation) has spawned the most selfish and laziest generation, which has refused to make the tough decisions and to do the tough everyday work to "train up our children in the way they should go". It is going to take an "all hands on deck, full court press" approach to this issue and I want to make sure everyone understands that the real challenge is to change the heart of our country and that passing more extreme background checks is not the answer. It won't hurt, but it won't solve the problem.
Thanks for the comment, and I hope your recognize that my answer is also respectfully submitted.
Kevin C
Kevin,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your civilized response. I agree with you on the value of content being fed to , not just our children, but all of us.
You and I are having a civilized discussion on a challenging issue. Unfortunately, this is an exception and not the rule. I may be suffering from nostalgia, but the level of discourse wasn't like this in my parents generation.
We need to move back to genuine, thoughtful dialogue and away from epithets and name calling. The divisive programming masquerading as news (on both sides) is just as harmful as violent action and fantasy entertainment. At best it misinforms, at worst it desensitizes us to forming cogent arguments.
Thanks for reading, Kevin.
John, I rarely say, "I totally agree", but your last statement is forcing me to admit - I totally agree! Thank you for your thoughtful and respectful comments.
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