As the news came in of the shooting of little children at Robb Elementry School in Uvalde, Texas, hearts began to break…again. Lives were changed forever…again. Little sweet precious lives were cut short…again.
Gone
Gone was a playful summer in the Texas sun for little bright-eyed children. Gone was their future! Family relationships, laughter, fun at the carnival, education, opportunities, professions, marriages, their own children, the smell and taste of a good meal, the peaceful feeling of a desert sunset, growing older and wiser… All gone in a flash by a crazy young man. His future is gone, too, by his choice. Individual choice is a powerful thing! It can create good results or lead to murder. The big question is this: How do we help young people make the right choices. More on that later.
The sad finality for these children stabbed the heart of people all over the world. Little lives who were one-moment writing on fresh tablets were now bleeding out on the floor. If they were fortunate, it ended quickly.
One deranged, immoral, uncontrollable 18-year-old found some sort of sick satisfaction in using a gun meant for use by soldiers at war to end innocent and helpless lives. Salvador Ramos purchased his semi-automatic rifles within a week of his 18th birthday! He couldn’t wait to buy those weapons. All legal, but all so wrong.
As a society, what could we have done that would have prohibited all this? The answer to that is highly complex. There is not one thing that can be done. Even if there were not a single gun in this country, evil and mental sickness would find a way to destroy life. This horrendous act of murder began in his mind…then came the weapon of choice and availability. The connection between the sick, immoral mind and available weapons is the issue. Weapons for self-defense and weapons of offense are the two different motives for owning guns.
Frustration
The frustration of the deadly redundancy and pitiful failure of our divided country to “fix the problem” was on the faces of the officials in Texas. The president of the Un-United States and his vice-president began their predictable drift into vexation, political innuendos, and customary statements that “something has to be done.”
American Wisdom and Politicians
This problem of school shootings is not a political party issue. It is a societal issue. Regardless of party affiliation, religion, or no belief system, I have found there is wisdom among the diverse people who live, work, and die in this country. They are not politicians. They are common people who have common sense. They see that a solution will not be found in a single bullet. It is not one piece of legislation; it is not a partisan solution; it is not the elimination of guns and more governmental control of things they have shown they can’t control.
The wise among us know that protecting our young people, and people in general, from death by weapons has immediate requirements and then developing a plan for long-term solutions. They know that this takes a united effort where political hats and agendas are checked at the door. We all cry about the loss of unity in this country. In our lifetimes, we have seen unity come alive at the bombing of Pearl Harbor and New York’s twin towers. We have set aside our political theology at those times, focused on the enemy, and worked together.
Unfortunately, we have had many Pearl Harbors, and we are still wearing political hats with no serious solutions. We haven’t progressed towards helping protect our children and other human beings!
Progress on this problem is for serious people living in serious times. It won’t come from politicians. It will come from the people, by the people, and for the people. Let the wise among us stop waiting on the wealthy Politicians and the political ideologies that separate us!
The president said he was “sick and tired.” Americans are sick and tired too. We are sick and tired of rhetoric, worn-out words of condolence, efforts to comfort, and political positioning to make sure their party is elected or re-elected!
Movement
Every community in this country should start a movement. Don’t fall back on the comfortable couch of complacency. Let us gather the serious and open-minded citizens among us and create a group of people with one thing in mind: the safety of our children! Who will go first? Only the serious-minded.
The group leader must be a facilitator for discussion and results-oriented for firm action. Information is king. Understanding the dynamics of the problem comes first and quickly, then finding solutions for each of the contributing factors. The plan should have an immediate, short term, and long-term plan:
Here are some ideas:
For immediate attention:
1.) Vulnerability of the Schools- How do we protect our children at school, in the building, and out? This needs immediate attention, even if it is small steps at first.
2.) Alert Processes– How do we educate, encourage, and identify people who appear dangerous. There are all sorts of ways for those on social media to identify people who need help. But once they are identified, what next?
Moderate Term Actions:
1.) Mental Health-A highly neglected group in our communities are those with mental health problems. How can we incorporate community-wide programs to help people with mental health challenges?
Long Term Actions:
It is time to focus on practical subjects for students in our schools and leave behind special interest ideologies!
1.) Mental health classes and mental health experts must be added to the schools.
1.) Return the teaching of morals to our school. The government should never interfere with religious freedom. It is a basic tenant of our Constitution. But even if you are not religious, you know there are right and wrong actions. There are consequences for doing wrong. Just ask anyone in jail. Our local state and national moral laws are based on God’s law. Six of the Ten Commandments are moral directives. They are helpful to any person, religious or not:
*Honoring parents ( Why not have mental health classes relating to your Mother, Dad, Grandparents, etc.?)
*Murder. What this means to our society and the lives of others. There are other solutions than taking someone’s life.
*Adultery– Stress the importance of commitment to one mate. Commitment to right and honor is sadly missing in our society.
*Stealing. Understand how stealing is wrong and that there are consequences that will disrupt life. Teach respect for other people’s property
*Lying. Talk about its moral implications related to yourself and how it affects other people.
*Covetousness-Talk about the consequences of mental anxiety in desiring other people’s property, spouse, and property.
2.) Find more resources for mental health, especially for impressionable youth. Set aside funds to address the mental issues of children and people who are on the streets or in nice comfortable homes. Mental health affects everyone, especially those in High School.
3.) Gun control on the local level. Let the politicians do all the fighting about the 2nd amendment. In the meantime, let’s think about how we can control who get’s guns and who doesn’t in our community. Require background checks. You don’t want to give a gun to people with mental issues or crime issues. This won’t solve the problem, but it will be a vital part. Training for both practical and moral use of a gun. Make the classes necessary for owning a gun.
Think about this: Automatic weapons have been banned since 1986, while the slightly slower semi-automatic and bump stocks are not. These types of weapons are for the military, as are rocket launchers and tanks. Since we are given the right to bear arms, it does not mean an individual should have weapons reserved for soldiers. My feeling about the 2nd amendment is that it was written for its time to maintain a militia that could fight against a rogue government. While we are guaranteed to bear arms, it doesn’t mean we should own weapons of mass destruction. Just my opinion…
When you meet with your newly formed group, discuss the facts of the matter and come to agree in the context of protecting our children. Then move forward with rapidity. Time is of the essence. The next sick person is out there somewhere waiting for his opportunity,
Think less about your adult self and more about the children.
Discussion Question Examples for Your Group
Here are some discussion statements to consider. They are discussion questions only, with the objective of getting on the same page of protecting our children.
1.) What can we do immediately to protect all our schools? We may not like this answer, but it is worth discussing. How can the teachers at the school protect the students and themselves? Is having a locked safe under the desk with a gun a possibility? A politician stated that “hardening the schools” by arming teachers is just “adding more guns” where accidents will happen. But an unlikely accident is not going to kill 19 children!
2.) How can we use the police and other resources in our community to protect the innocent and vulnerable?
3.) How can we monitor our communities, so we don’t tread on the sanctity of the home but become more aware of dangerous conditions around us. How do we react?
Last Thoughts
What were the last thoughts of those precious children? My wife, who is a nurse and has held the hands of dying people, including children, told me this:
I have seen my Creator, in His love and mercy, give a person at death’s door comfort. God especially sends comfort to children. Children have a special place in His heart. I have seen it in their eyes. Eyes looking towards heaven as if they are seeing an angel come to be with them.
Nurse Judy
God and Children
The question to God is often “why”? Why did God allow this? Stock answers are multiple but often make no sense and reflect badly on God. Because the answers don’t come from people who know the character of God, even if they are an elder or a pastor in a church. A person can be religious and not appreciate the God whose identity is described as love.
Bad responses:
“God loves them more than us and calls them home.” So God causes a mass murder to kill them so He can have them in heaven? Or a man dies of a heart attack and leaves a wife and three small children. So God clogged his arteries so He could have this young man in heaven? How ridiculous!
“God has a long-term plan that we can’t see.” It will save someone else. Really? Is this how God works? Is death the solution tool of God or of Satan?
“They are in a better place.” Of course, heaven is a better place, but it brings no comfort to those who no longer have their little sweetheart!
As a follower of Christ, I get frustrated with pat religious answers. I prefer the plain word of God and His revelation of great love:
1.) God does not take any enjoyment in death. Even the death of a wicked person:
“As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live…”
Ezekiel 33:11
“…but (God) is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
2 Peter 3:9
Death is not God’s tool. It is the tool of Satan himself:
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
John 10:10
Children Need Him
But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 19:14
Have we prohibited the Children to come to Jesus? Children are our model for what it means to be part of the kingdom of heaven. As adults we must come to Jesus and learn how to bring our children to Him. It must be in the Spirit of the love of Christ and not the steeling cold theologies of religion.
Eddie