Name the heroes not the criminal
Our hearts are grieving for the families affected by the tragic shootings in Oregon. Once again, the ordinary people who were there became extraordinary heroes. On Facebook, one person nominated as the most courageous person in America the second person in that room who was asked by the shooter if they were a Christian and answered yes anyway. I would like to know about that true martyr for our faith. I also applaud the Army vet who charged the shooter. I pray for Chris Mintz’s recovery from his wounds. These are the names I want on my lips, not the name of the shooter.
But learn from situation
As unpleasant as the task may be, it is important for the prevention of further such incidents that we learn about the perpetrator. Once again a person whose mental health was questionable had unwise access to guns and used them against innocent people in a place where he would not encounter armed resistance. He wanted to achieve media notoriety. I learn from the news of his hatred of Christianity. I believe he was also from a single parent home, an additional risk factor. In an eerie parallel to Sandy Hook, his mother was fascinated with guns. His actions also indicate character issues, lack of respect for others, no compassion, and insensitivity to bloodshed and violence.
Mental health is a difficult issue
People will wring their hands and ask, “What can be done?” Politicians will point to gun control. Indeed, there is work to be done in the area of screening access to firearms for those whose mental health records are questionable. But that is a very difficult agenda in a land where we cherish individual freedom. Families cannot even get help for those whom they know are mentally ill because the sufferer hasn’t done anything illegal yet. By the time they have it is too late either for them or for others. Similarly, families and friends of Alzheimer victims are powerless until either the sufferer is hospitalized for other reasons or a caretaker is hospitalized for injuries, even though the ability to choose of their loved one has declined past the point of safety for all concerned. The issue of mental health in America is much broader than just the gun control aspect.
Learning to value the valuable not the familiar
But almost no one will talk about the deeper issues involved here. Why is a mentally ill person like this shooter thinking that it is more desirable to become infamous than to remain one of the crowd? Might it be partly because we as a culture give too much adulation and credit to those who happen to appear regularly on television? Who even knows the names of those who found movements of charity? Who notices those who head up cancer research? Teachers are more likely to be blamed for low scores than given credit for dealing with increasing numbers of special-needs students. Our society does not know its real heroes! It adores people whose faces simply appear in movies and on TV rather than sorting out those whose character and achievements truly deserve recognition. There is something very wrong with how our culture rewards people based only on media exposure.
Media that considers its effect, not just its click numbers
I have been pleased with the effort of some news organizations to follow the lead of the Oregon community where the shooting happened and attempt to front page the names of victims and heroes while barely mentioning the perpetrator. This is a wholesome trend because it considers the effects of the way the news is covered. It counters the usual trend where media is driven by clicks, not by value. To make a lasting difference, there will need to be leaders in media and government that desire to set a course for the moral uplift of America. Negative portrayal of Christians in media today has to be contributing to the culture’s sad turn toward ungodliness and rejection of the Christian heritage of our country.
Needed: A resurgence of the fear of God
I have also noted before and repeat again that one thing that needs to change in our society in order for the culture of violence to change is this. There needs to be a revival of the fear of God including teaching about the accounting that each person must give to God after they die. People who kill others and then commit suicide think it is over. Jesus clearly taught us that it is not over (John 5:28, 29)! Our accountability for our actions has just begun. We may have escaped earthly accountability but we cannot escape God’s judgment. “We know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:30-31 NIV 2011).
Violent programming programs brains for violence
Finally, to change the violent climate of our country, we must stop loving violence in our entertainment. The Bible warns that cultures that love violence will be dogged by it. “Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you” (Ezek. 35:6 NIV). When children grow up watching hundreds of murders on television and committing virtual murders in video venues every day, why should we be surprised if some people on the margins whose ability to separate fiction and reality is impaired and whose ethical intelligence is very low commit real world mayhem? Is it not probable that if violence had not been pre-programmed in by media habits, then their acting out would manifest entirely differently?