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Of course, we teach your students not to bully. You will
tell them, “You wouldn’t want to be bullied, would you?”
When we say this, we are appealing to pragmatism—a
cost/benefit assessment: “What if someone bullied you, you wouldn’t like it,
would you? You might even feel humiliated. Why do it to someone else?”
If the students are clever, they might realize that you are
not appealing a God-given principle of “right and wrong” but instead to self-interest.
Our students might not be able to articulate what is wrong
with this reasoning, but they might intuitively realize, “I know what benefits
me more than you do. I enjoy being part of the tough group or gang that is
doing the bullying. Not only is it fun, but it builds group cohesion. It makes
me feel I belong and am protected.”
The same conundrum also pertains to the tragic outbreak of
school shootings. The teacher can teach against this tragedy from the POV of
self-interest: “You will be caught, and your life will be ruined. Besides,
think of the pain you will cause to all the families.”
The shooters might have also considered these things and
have concluded that they are best served by getting revenge and regaining honor
and respect. How could they escape with temptations based upon self-interest
alone!
What’s missing in this equation? God—the source of all
objective morality and value. Ironically, God is also the One who has been
rejected from consideration! However, when students realize that they are
beloved, valued, and honored by God, the need to secure these commodities from
others is greatly diminished, especially in view that many shooters have come
from broken families where they have not been inculcated with assurance of
God’s love.
These shootings also coincide with the removal of any
positive reference to God within our schools. I think that this correlation
also helps to explain the proliferation of crime in the West since the 1960s.
Does science exclude the rejection of God? In, “Spirituality
& Health Research: Methods, Measurement, Statistics, and Resources,” Harold
G. Koenig MD, has done more to survey the available research regarding the
question of what is associated with positive mental and physical outcomes than
perhaps anyone else. He has identified religion/spirituality (R/S) as the key
element. Here is a very small sampling of what he has found:
·
DEPRESSION: “At least 444 studies have now
quantitatively examined relationships between R/S and depression, and 272 (61
percent) of those found less depression, faster remission from depression, or a
reduction in depression severity in response to an R/S intervention (ten
studies at a trend level). In contrast, only 6 percent reported greater
depression in those who were more R/S. Of the 178 methodologically most
rigorous studies, 119 (67 percent) found inverse relationships between R/S and
depression.”
·
SUICIDE: “We identified 141 studies that had
examined relationships between R/S and some aspect of suicide (completed
suicide, attempted suicide, or attitudes toward suicide), and 106 (75 percent)
reported significant inverse relationships; 80 percent of the best designed
studies reported this finding.”
Our bias—secularism—has hurt us and our children!
