I think that most, if not all, the comments I've seen about
the Newtown massacre, are asking all the wrong questions. The question I see
most often is what would cause a man to go on such an evil rampage and kill so
many kids? This I believe is completely reversed from the question we SHOULD be
considering. What is it that PREVENTS some of us from NOT pursuing such evil?
If we could just come to the place where we acknowledged that ALL of us have
the capacity to carry out such an evil act, then and only then, can we begin to
understand why most of us don't allow our inner evil to take us that far. What preventive "graces" and
influences have we been blessed with that lead us to say no to our evil
impulses? What institutions and moral influences have led us in a different
direction?
Far too many people are proposing that government should do
something to help prevent these types of massacres to stop. Folks, government
is not the answer. Government cannot effectively create moral foundations that
prevent evil from happening; it can only punish evil once committed and hope to
form a sense of justice. Government does not give meaning and purpose to our
lives, nor can it lead us to love our neighbors as ourselves. It is faith,
family, and community that give us those moral foundations. The best
government can hope to do is to be careful not to undermine those God designed
"graces" and institutions. Government and legislation is not the
answer, a healthy fear of God that forms the foundation for a social morality
is the only hope for preventing an increase of Columbines and Newtons.
God, and previous generations, gave us the very institutions
that are crucial to help all of us to travel the road of good citizenship. Our culture,
and our government, has systematically undermined the very foundations that
have given us the foundations for a moral society. So how can we now be shocked
that evil runs rampant? How can we now turn to even more morally neutral government
and expect that to fix anything? Folks, it won’t. It can’t.
