A Culture of Violence

I haven't posted in quite some time, and have been considering "starting up" again. The recent event at Boston has been an impetus to write again.

There is no doubt that the bombing at the Boston Marathon is a tragedy. People killed. Others wounded. Lives changed forever. Such agony and despair.

What saddens me even more is that this will not be the last such event. The authorities may well catch the person(s) who did this. They may incarcerate them for the rest of their lives. But it won't stop something like this from happening again.

There is another tragedy that is not too far removed. All one has to do is say or write "Sandy Hook" and people all across our nation immediately know what you are talking about. Lives of young children, school administrators, and teachers, killed by a lone gunman who then took his own life.

As a result of the Sandy Hook shootings there was an outcry that has forced the issue of potential new gun laws that are being debated in our Senate. I have no idea if any of the laws will pass. I can't imagine what kind of laws, if any, might be suggested to try to prevent a tragedy like the bombing at the Boston Marathon.

I am sure of this, though. No amount of laws will prevent future similar tragedies. Why? Because you can't legislate morals. And the basic fact is that evil actions are the result of evil-thinking people. The old radio program, "The Shadow," began with the line, "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?" The answer was: The Shadow. Today, if there were a Shadow, I doubt even he would know.

The good news is that there is an answer. It's been the same answer for a couple of thousands years, now. The answer is Jesus Christ. Throughout history Jesus has changed the lives of men and women. He has turned hearts and minds bent on evil to hearts filled with love and minds dedicated to demonstrating Jesus' love to others.

We may have "In God we trust" on our currency, but the truth is our nation is a long way from trusting in God. Until our nation acknowledges that the only answer to evil hearts is a life-changing experience with a loving Lord we'll continue to see senseless killing.

 We love because He first loved us.
1 John 4:19 (HCSB)