People need to turn to God to prevent more shootings
By Lethbridge Herald on June 2, 2022.
Editor:
“What is society coming to?” “Why all this violence?” “How could God allow this?” Rhetorical questions such as these often circulate following a shooting as we struggle to make sense of tragedy. On Tuesday, May 24, nineteen elementary children and two teachers were murdered in cold blood in Uvalde, Texas.
Many of us can still remember Columbine in 1999, perhaps because it was one of the deadliest school shootings, although by no means the first. This incident sent shock waves that could be felt for a long time; are perhaps still felt.
But mass shootings are almost becoming the norm; and unless there is a personal connection to the victims, or it hits home in another way, our collective shock begins to wear off more easily. Human nature always seeks a why; something to explain suffering. We parade the same convenient scapegoats in front of the media lens: mental health issues; gun violence; a neglectful government.
The list is endless. But the problem here is that even though the above issues are certainly valid (mental health issues are becoming increasingly common, guns often fall into the wrong hands, and the government can do much more than it does), they are symptoms of a much deeper issue: we have turned our backs on God.
How could God allow this? This is the refrain following nearly every shooting. Friedrich Nietzsche, a German philosopher from the 1800s, pointed out very clearly in his “The Parable of the Madman” that “We have killed [God] – you and I.” We do not allow the Ten Commandments or public prayer in schools (certainly, there are exceptions).
We don’t need God. We have degenerated into a permissive, godless society that upholds the sentiments of John Lennon’s “Imagine”: “Imagine there’s no heaven…No hell below us.” There is no accountability, and morals are relative.
Even though Nietzsche was an avowed atheist, he was perceptive enough to realize that removing God and the Bible (the centre of all truth) from society – removing the “glue” that has held civilization together since the beginning of the world – we would plunge in all directions as God and morality are one (something modern day atheists struggle to comprehend).
Although Nietzsche deplored what he wrongly termed the “narrow-mindedness” of religion and morality, he could rightly see that something else must take God’s place; something else must hold society together or we fall into chaos. But he was wrong in thinking any solution could be found outside of God.
Ironically, a society that does not want God – believes He is some fairy tale – still demands answers of Him. Can you ask a God you turned your back on – nay, a God you think does not exist – to suddenly appear at your beck and call? We don’t want God involved in any other aspect of our lives. Why only when things fall apart? Once God is removed from society, things fall into chaos.
The evidence is all around us: the daily murder of unborn children upon the altar of human rights, the haze of gender confusion, little children slaughtered in schools, corrupt leadership, the perversion of marriage, and the list can go on and on. We are a society that has gutted itself of moral values, and then wonders why there is such turmoil. The wrong people are passionately intense, while those who should speak up, lack all conviction.
Yes, mental health issues exist. But they often stem from deeper societal problems, such as broken homes (yet another symptom of a godless society). School shootings, or any other mass shootings, are not necessarily because we have a gun issue, but more accurately a “turning our backs on God” issue.
We look to the government expecting solutions and blame them when they cannot step up. But God gives us the government we deserve. After all, we think we can do it better than God.
Then we also cannot blame God when society falls into chaos, as it clearly has. Because God is the source of real love and peace, a society without God has none of these in the true sense. God is the solution. God is the answer. But unless we turn back to Him, there will be more shootings. Far, far more.
Roliena Slingerland
Coaldale
17-16
I recall seeing a bumper sticker that stated “God, Guts and Guns made the U S free”.
Nothing wrong with that, depending on which God and the wisdom of the gun holder. If that God was Allah of the Koran for example and the radicals interpreted the Koran to kill all of us western infidels, it is bad. It is also bad when so called ‘Christians’ who are Aryan Nations members and say they worship Christ, while kill or maime or attack and intimidate Jews, African Americans and non-Aryan’s actually believe they are on God’s side. They are not and miss the very basis of Christ’s commandment to love one another as thyself and respect government as well.
There are many gods including the god of this world, Satan who is here to kill, steal and destroy. The God of the Holy Bible gives us all a choice, he is not a dictator, to follow him and his lifestyles and anger, strife and conflict is not his way, but that of Satan.
The issue is more complex than just God not in society, but of discipline being taken out of schools and homes, technology that allows kids to see things they should never see, video games that give you rewards for killing police, kids and even babies, parents struggling to pay bills working multiple jobs and have little time to spend with kids and the news that spews images of shootings, wars, climate change ending the world, and many other stress causing events.
People dividing into special interest groups, fracturing society to a point countries face being split up! It is all about ‘ME’.
There is a lot of stress out there and for many, God was their peace, their joy, their happiness, their morality gauge, their everything!
14 mass shootings the weekend of the Uvalde shooting and 11 mass shootings in the US this past weekend. Mass shooting is 4 or more victims shot on one scene.
I hope all will find their peace, somehow!
God also blessed us with the wherewithall and intelligence to be proactive. Going to Google and typing in “Gun law in New Zealand,” is well worth reading. They also have an amazing leader, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who moved quickly re: “guns” after their mass mosque shooting in Christchurch in 2019.
Agreed. We certainly cannot blame God “when society falls into chaos.” Then again, would YOUR god be the same entity as that of the fundamentalist Hasidic Jews, the Catholics, the god of the Koran, the multiple deities of eastern religions, the ancient gods of early mankind.( The latter considerably earlier than the Old Testament.)
Your reference to Nietzsche that he was an atheist is debatable, since some consider him to be aligned with Buddhism , others would disagree. He has stated though that “moral systems based on good and evil to be a “calamitous error” and called for a reevaluation of the Christian world.”
God fearing cultures, be they Christian, Islamic, eastern belief systems , so called “pagans”, all historically, sometimes have not exactly been shining beacons of peace loving peoples . Individually, many devotees of all religious doctrines and those with no “faith” are the opposite, preaching tolerance and acceptance of all humans , no matter their personal beliefs be it a God, Gods , the natural world or nothing at all.
At least you recognize the pervasive gun culture down south, ironically practised by many right wing Christian groups and their followers.
God must be extremely perplexed.
Biblical teachings are to be cherished (but are open to interpretation), along with other teachings of different belief systems. One is not superior to the other, but I get the impression that YOURS is the only way.
It is not.
Is your God superior to all others cited above?
He/She is not.