Virginia Tech: My Opinion
At this writing, only a week has passed since we were all reminded of the terrible depravity that can surface from members of the human race. Of course, I’m referring to yet another horrible school shooting, this time at Virginia Tech. This time the killer set a new record as perpetrating the worst shooting in history as he entered a building, chained the doors and began a murderous rampage. Students jumped out of windows trying to escape a spray of bullets. It resulted not just in the worst school shooting but the worst shooting in America’s history. Thirty-two students and teachers were murdered with many more injured.
These tragedies seem epidemic in our society today. The Virginia Tech University was shooting dubbed a school massacre and the president of the university said he was at a loss for words to explain how such a slaughter could take place. I watched the press grill the university officials with questions regarding how this might have been prevented in terms of rules and precautions. But the news conference ended with more questions than answers. What was in the mind of this man? What could he have been thinking? The news conference ended the way it began-with the depravity of man. The press wanted assurances of how this could be prevented in the future. I contend the only way such a betrayal of your fellow man can be prevented is through a heart change.
Many will talk about guns in the weeks and months to come and they should. We have too many handguns today. I think we need to return to an earlier era when responsible hunters assumed responsibility to teach and train others in the sport of hunting and gun safety. We don’t need handguns for that. Today, handguns are treated more as status objects to attain than they are instruments of self-defense. They are adult toys more than instruments of sports. We need also to teach our children that you never even entertain the thought of pointing a gun at another human being unless you are burglarized or are in war. We need to teach our children human life is precious and we don’t have the right to be judge and jury. We need to teach them we never touch a gun when we are angry unless it is in times of war. We need to make sure that folks undergoing mental health treatment should not have access to guns. This young Virginia Tech shooter had been in counseling and had been prescribed antidepressants. I think I probably speak for many mental health professionals when I say we would all sleep better at night if we knew our clients didn’t have easy access to guns or gun purchases.
I would also like to say there has been devolution of emotional control in this generation. The generation of WWII knew first hand the destructiveness of firearms and they respected them. Additionally, this generation also lived “closer to the land” and used firearms for better purposes, that is, hunting game. The current generation does not have the emotional control or the emotional intelligence to resolve problems without violence because they have it displayed in video games and movies today. The stuff our society watches today is a far cry from John Wayne and Marshall Dillon shooting the bad guy. We are reaping what we have sown.
Having said all that I also want to say that, in the final analysis, what happened last Monday is not about guns any more than Christ’s crucifixion was about crosses. It is about the condition of our hearts. Ultimately our hearts affect the processes of the mind. The deepest thinkers will be talking about our spiritual condition as they discuss this issue. Our hearts are unregenerate and without value and direction. We have lost the influence of Christianity in American culture. Our decision to kick God out of our society was not a good one.
Matt 15:19 “For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies.”-Holman Christian Standard Bible