School Shootings and Forgiveness
"Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." Romans 1: 28-32
Little girls slaughtered by a man with a twenty year old grudge.
A community of people who built their lives on peace and simplicity shattered.
In Colorado last week, an other man pulled the same stunt.
Normally, I would rage that the public schools, at least, should arm their teachers. Give them the option of packing heat while teaching. Never let anyone know who has a gun in their desk, just a sign at the entrance that says something like, "5 Teachers have Guns Today: Do you want to take a chance?" Maybe these suicidal maniacs will just take themselves out without the drive to take as many others with them as possible. At least, maybe, they will leave our kids alone. It's bad enough that kids are shooting kids: We don't need these deranged adults walking through the doors of our school unchecked. But is school security the issue?
Even as I write this, new details are coming out. I just heard on the radio that the guy who shot those Amish girls had brought lubricant with him because he had planned to molest them.
These events leave me broken hearted. When I drop my little one off at preschool, I wonder if it could happen here. After all, if it happened at a Amish one room school house it could happen at a church daycare center.
There are doctors running around trying to find out if these guys had some sort of chemical imbalance, if they had some childhood trauma, or some other excuse. Is childhood trauma and abuse the issue?
When ever one of these tragedies occur, they are always followed by stories of hope. The girl shot in Colorado had sent a text message to her family telling them she loved them. The boys let out of the Amish school house were huddled together praying when the shots rang out. The families of those girls have already made a stand that they are going to practice forgiveness.
And forgiveness seems to be the key here. Both of these men, in fact, all the school murderers in recent years have had 'deep emotional scars'. And now, there are more people, the families of the victims, who have been dealt a grievous blow, who could take up the mantle of victim-hood, but instead choose to practice...forgiveness. These men and their families are being given the gift that they where unable to give: Forgiveness.
I don't think it is the wounds that these men suffered from that caused them to commit these atrocities. I think the issue is that they had never learned forgiveness. They never where taught the importance of it or if they were, nobody ever taught them how. Perhaps, they have never received it until now.
I think I will pray for the families of the victims, and pray that their deaths won't be written off as a 'random act of violence'. I pray that their sacrificing their right to justice in exchange for the highroad of grace and mercy will set an example to the next would-be killer: There is another path for them other than one of destruction.
Christianity, School Shootings
Little girls slaughtered by a man with a twenty year old grudge.
A community of people who built their lives on peace and simplicity shattered.
In Colorado last week, an other man pulled the same stunt.
Normally, I would rage that the public schools, at least, should arm their teachers. Give them the option of packing heat while teaching. Never let anyone know who has a gun in their desk, just a sign at the entrance that says something like, "5 Teachers have Guns Today: Do you want to take a chance?" Maybe these suicidal maniacs will just take themselves out without the drive to take as many others with them as possible. At least, maybe, they will leave our kids alone. It's bad enough that kids are shooting kids: We don't need these deranged adults walking through the doors of our school unchecked. But is school security the issue?
Even as I write this, new details are coming out. I just heard on the radio that the guy who shot those Amish girls had brought lubricant with him because he had planned to molest them.
These events leave me broken hearted. When I drop my little one off at preschool, I wonder if it could happen here. After all, if it happened at a Amish one room school house it could happen at a church daycare center.
There are doctors running around trying to find out if these guys had some sort of chemical imbalance, if they had some childhood trauma, or some other excuse. Is childhood trauma and abuse the issue?
When ever one of these tragedies occur, they are always followed by stories of hope. The girl shot in Colorado had sent a text message to her family telling them she loved them. The boys let out of the Amish school house were huddled together praying when the shots rang out. The families of those girls have already made a stand that they are going to practice forgiveness.
And forgiveness seems to be the key here. Both of these men, in fact, all the school murderers in recent years have had 'deep emotional scars'. And now, there are more people, the families of the victims, who have been dealt a grievous blow, who could take up the mantle of victim-hood, but instead choose to practice...forgiveness. These men and their families are being given the gift that they where unable to give: Forgiveness.
I don't think it is the wounds that these men suffered from that caused them to commit these atrocities. I think the issue is that they had never learned forgiveness. They never where taught the importance of it or if they were, nobody ever taught them how. Perhaps, they have never received it until now.
I think I will pray for the families of the victims, and pray that their deaths won't be written off as a 'random act of violence'. I pray that their sacrificing their right to justice in exchange for the highroad of grace and mercy will set an example to the next would-be killer: There is another path for them other than one of destruction.
Christianity, School Shootings
Posted by Surly Dave on
Tuesday, October 3, 2006
