Independence Day

 July 4, 2022

Here we go again. For the past eight years, I’ve assiduously avoided commenting on current events that always get interpreted politically. I have long grown tired of the arguments and vitriol that inevitably gets thrown around over such matters, but today, another mass shooting, this time at a celebration of our nation’s independence. Laudably, our president didn’t use this as a platform for political posturing, but others are unlikely to be so restrained. Handwringing will morph into futile inquiries into what motivated this young man to do what he did, and any number of new proposals for gun control which will do no more than those we already have to protect the innocent. Two statistics will probably not make the news.

The first is that, according to statistics, 97% of those perpetrating such crimes are on, or have recently been on one or more of a number of anti-depressants. The dangers of these medications are known; they can make symptoms worse, cause anger, suicidal impulses, etc., yet no one seems to be connecting the dots. These medications are increasingly being prescribed, and we seem to be reaping the consequences. Not being a medical person myself, there may be other factors, but this is at least telling.

The second is the absentee father syndrome. Upwards of 90% of incarcerated men admit the absence of a father in their lives. Again, the media say nothing about these statistics, instead focusing on the weapon used. Our young men are dying from the inside out because they’ve not known a father who would give them the stability of love, attention, correction, and example of what it means to be a man of real courage, integrity, and character.

An underlying corollary is the general decline of our culture. We have increasingly rejected the Judeo-Christian roots of our society, with the result that our connections with each other are more and more fractured and combative, even in public discourse. Instead of seeing each other as fellow citizens, we see one another adversarily, to our detriment. 

There are certainly other factors that play into the increasing violence we are seeing; violent video games, the proliferation of weapons, the hamstringing of our police, 24-hour news that makes instant celebrities of perpetrators and encourages copy cat crimes, and a growing culture of death evidenced by the rage of many over the recent Supreme Court reversal of Roe v. Wade. When preborn babies are dehumanized and their killing lauded, it should not be surprising that the dehumanization of an impersonal crowd of people would follow.

I don’t pretend to have the answers. I do know that what we’ve been doing isn’t working, and that doing the same thing harder is unlikely to bring resolution. So I do what I can do; I live with as much integrity as I can, and lead my family and friends to do the same. I try to be aware of my surroundings; I vote. And I pray…that we will as a nation return to our roots in repentance, celebrate life from conception to completion. And I pray, “Even so, come Lord Jesus; save us not only from our sins, but from ourselves.”