THE CULTURE OF THE SCHOOL SHOOTER

In The Stream, Jennifer Hartline writes that our concern about gun laws overlooks the deeper issues and societal changes:

·       What is creating such violent, heartless, furious young people? Are we ready yet to turn the microscope on ourselves and our culture at large? We need a ruthless and candid evaluation of our society and our values.

·       Why do so many young teens seem to lack even the smallest measure of charity? Why are so many children full of despair? Why are so many children physically harming themselves or taking their own lives? Why has the rate of suicide among children doubled since 2000?

There are many indicators that something has gone wrong. In many ways, our youth are giving up. The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche had written:

·       "If one has a 'why' to live for, one can bear almost any 'how'!"

Do the youth have a “why” to live for? Well, they do have their dreams of a successful career and the money to do those things that make them happy. But what happens when that dream dies? Do they have anything on which to fall back? Do they have supportive families? A church family?  

Do they have a higher “why” and purpose for their life, a transcendent vision of the good that can carry them through, something to lift them out of their pain? Many times, they do not. Why not? They have been persistently taught that such resources do not exist:

·       Evolution has taught them that they are just an animal, not created in the likeness of God, the product of an accident in a purposeless universe. Consequently, others are also just animals who can be treated as animals.

·       Materialization has taught us that we are no more than sophisticated bio-chemical machines, which can be discarded when they no longer serve society.

·       Hyper-sexualization training and pornography has taught them that they are sexual objects, and that pleasure is their right and choice is its servant. Whatever they choose is “right” for them, concern about others be damned.

·       Moral relativism has taught them that there is no objective right and wrong. It’s just a matter of your own arbitrary choices. Their task then is merely to clarify their own evolving values and purposes. From this perspective, the school shooters have merely been an exemplary product of their education. One young lady just wrote, “I never listen to anyone who uses the word ‘should’ in a sentence.” “Shoulds” represent to her limitations to her freedom personhood.

·       Multiculturalism has taught them that we cannot judge other cultures, because they are all valid. Then any lifestyle, no matter how destructive or violent, is also equally valid. After all, if there is no objective standard of judgment, we cannot coherently judge.

·       The drug culture, including psycho-pharmacological drugs, have numbed their minds and feelings, their very humanity.

However, society refuses to scrutinize these unquestionable underlying beliefs. Consequently, the only “why” to live for is pleasure and the discharge of emotions, whatever form they may take. Therefore, Hartline concludes:

·       If we don’t turn the same passionate scrutiny on our society and our choices that we’re turning on our gun laws, then we really are just arguing about window treatments while the house goes up in flames.