Today is President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. His greatness has recently been recalled in a film that is garnering many awards.
He was killed by a gun. Or was he killed by a madman, or hatred or a different ideology? It was probably all of these.
And it is thus with the tragedies we mourn these days. We can try to do away with guns and make our schools into fortresses, but can we fortify movie theaters and shopping malls and anywhere a madman might pop up?
The gun question has loud and fervent supporters on both sides. Personally, I believe in maintaining the Second Amendment. There is evil in the world and we should be able to protect ourselves against, it as well as use guns for sporting purposes. However, it seems mighty unsportsmanlike to go after unarmed creatures with a weapon that shoots continuous rounds. A charging rhino might require such action, but not a fleeing deer.
We need to look beyond the how to the why these things happen. Several suggestions have been brought forward. The perpetrators are obviously warped in some way and the need for more mental health professionals is suggested. But even they are not mind-readers, nor are they fortune-tellers. They can only try to move the troubled person in a more positive direction.
Many of the killers have suffered from bullying. This is usually of the schoolyard variety, and that particular problem in being addressed by the schools in a number of creative ways, addressing both the bully and the bystanders who allow it to continue. This is but one method.
Something that hasn’t been brought up too often is the drug problem as related to this horrible violence. I’m not talking about street drugs, but the pharmaceuticals we see advertised on television every day. Nearly every perpetrator of these crimes has a history of some type of prescription drug use. How many drug commercials do we see on television that warn of the side effect or “thoughts of suicide?”
Then there is the entertainment industry. If Congress were to pass laws banning certain violent movies and video games, on which amendment would they then be infringing? And Hollywood has even taken note of the suicide warnings and created a movie titled “Side Effects.” Will this be a warning or just another excuse for box office sales?
But after the atrocities of 9/11, created by those who hate us, using airplanes instead of guns, where did we find Congress? They were on the steps of the Capitol, singing “God Bless America.” And as they try to offer comfort to next of kin, we often hear, “You are in our prayers.”
We don’t yet have an antidote to this evil in the world, but we must not get so tied to one possible solution, such as the gun issue, that we forget to try all avenues.
We truly do need God to bless America.
