On Feb. 14, 2018, a former student at the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL murdered
seventeen other students. There is, and never will be, any excuse for this heinous act. This was neither an act of God’s judgment upon those who were killed, nor something He allowed. The responsibility for these insane acts of homicide rests solely upon the shoulders of Satan and his willing accomplice, the shooter.
Those who desire to use these senseless deaths for political advantage immediately began to demand more gun control, a refrain composed even before the victims were pronounced dead. Guns are responsible they say, and only the elimination of private gun ownership will solve the problem. They declare the Second Amendment is at fault, because it allows citizens to own guns. Even if The Second Amendment was repealed and gun ownership by private citizens was outlawed, it would not solve the problem. Criminals do not obey the law and will always find ways to obtain firearms for their nefarious purposes. New laws are not the solution.
THE BLAME
Some blame violence readily found in movies, television, and video games. Music that glorifies killing policemen and others is also cited as the reason that students take up arms against classmates and faculty. Depression, ADHD, and the drugs used to treat them are also faulted as the source of violent behavior in teenagers. Certainly these things contribute to violent thinking and may inspire violent acts, but new restrictions upon them are not the solution.
The popular culture that embraces many of the things blamed for acts of violence cannot solve the problems it often creates. Politicians are powerless to solve the problem. The scourge of murderous violence in schools can never be eliminated until we acknowledge and admit the root of the problem. Like a weed growing in an otherwise beautiful lawn, violence will continue to grow and spread on campus until the root is pulled out of the ground or killed.
When I started the first grade in 1962, we opened each day with prayer. It was not a sectarian prayer, and was very simple in nature. We asked God to help us do our best as students, and to guide and help our teachers and school administrators. Entering second grade, I experienced something new and “culturally advanced.” Because of Supreme Court decisions, we were no longer allowed to pray or read the Bible as a group in school. God was kicked out of school, although he could not be banned from our hearts. Two generations later, we struggle with school violence. The root of the problem is simple: when God and His Word are not acknowledged and respected, morality fails and violence ensues.
CULTURAL DEVOLUTION
55 years of public education without God has resulted in a culture of disrespect and violence directed towards students and teachers whose lives mean nothing to the dealers of death.and destruction. Unfettered by respect for Higher Authority and without morality, killers who are a product of the system they resent walk the halls of schools, and wait in classrooms for an opportune time to strike. Why did we allow this reprehensible cultural devolution to develop in our schools? The Church must except its’ responsibility for blind inaction in the wake of disastrous Supreme Court decisions and the rise of pop culture.
The court decisions excluding God from public schools, followed by court decisions permitting abortion on demand, have seriously eroded respect for life among our citizens. If it is permissible to take the life of an innocent child we have never seen, is it not also permissible to end the lives of others we have seen and dislike? Christians should reject and abhor such thinking, but it is not a stretch at all for Satan and those whom he motivates. Where there is no God, there can be no respect for life. Individuals devoid of a God – connection will develop other connections, often with disastrous results.
THE ONLY SOURCE OF LIFE
There is only one way to dig up and destroy the root of violence in public schools. The solution is the same for every problem in our nation today. We must return to God and the Bible in our personal lives and public institutions. The apostle John wrote “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life”.(1 John 5:12) it is impossible to maintain a culture of life uwithout embracing a relationship with Jesus, the Prince of Life. Students who are never exposed to the truth about God and Jesus are easily influenced by pop culture and its’ fascination with immorality, darkness, and death. We must determine to live our lives in ways that display the love of God and adherence to the Word of God, the only source of life and truth. We must insist that public institutions and those that run them reflect the values upon which our unique American culture was founded. We must not shy away from the truth in political discourse. Most importantly, we must pray for a Holy Spirit led revival in our nation. We may be dismayed by recent events in our schools, but we can be comforted in this: REVIVAL CHANGES EVERYTHING, and it’s on the way! Will you join me in prayer, expectation, and action?
