The Blame Game

In the wake of gun violence many want someone or something to blame.

Many seem to want to blame guns for the violence. Some say it is violent television and games that have created a violent culture. Some even want to blame our mental health system.

But they are all wrong.

Guns can no more be blamed for gun violence than cars can be blamed for drunk-drivers or forks be blamed for obesity.

I don't believe violent media creates a violent culture, I think it is our violent culture that creates violent media.

Sure, there may evidence of mental health in the cases of some of these shooters, but poor mental health cannot excuse the reoccurring darkness of human history.

We can ban guns, we can stop violent movies and games from being made, and we can slap labels like "insane" and "monster" on those that commit atrocities but it will never get to the real root of the problem.

Evil.

The post-modern existentialism and the acceptance of the idea that humans are no more than physical beings that resulted from evolutionary forces have not prepared us for the reality that we are all caught in a supernatural battle between Good and Evil.

Since Cain killed Able humans have struggled against evil and it is only in context of that realization that we can hope to deal with evil in our world.

We can't pass laws to protect us from evil. We can't build walls to keep it out or cages to keep it in. The reason is that evil lives in the heart of every man, woman, and child.

Only when we realize the meaning of "we do not battle against flesh and blood" can we hope to push back against the evil in our world.