Violence, let's not lose focus of the real problem.

Genesis 4:1-16  New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
Cain Murders Abel
4 Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have produced a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14 Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me.” 15 Then the Lord said to him, “Not so!  Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Like many, I have been listening to the news lately of another horrible act of violence in one of our schools.  Many are calling this and other attacks "gun violence" and screaming for more restrictions on gun purchases and some even for an outright gun ban and confiscation akin to what occurred in Austrailia. There are claims that guns are too easy to purchase, that there is more access to guns today, that high capacity magazines somehow are to blame.  Most, if not all making these claims have never purchased a gun, many have never owned a gun, nor ever been trained or taught gun safety and handling.

First of all, guns are not easy to purchase today.  In order to purchase a gun, you do have to have a background check; to purchase a handgun you have to have a permit in most states, and that means going to the local sheriff and having them issue you this permit after of course, they check your records.  As far as access, whereas there are more guns in private ownership today the actual access is far less. Fewer people own guns today, it's just that those that own them tend to own more than in the past. There is a 'meme' going around about how in years past, guns were in the back window of every pickup truck in the High School parking lot.  As a person born in 1959, I can confirm that most of the pickups in the High School parking lot, did indeed have at least one rifle or shotgun in the back window, or stashed behind the seat, or even in a pouch in the front of the seat cover.  My older brother had one of those types of seat covers in his pickup and it always contained a Ruger Mini-14 semi-automatic rifle. There were far, far more guns within a nearby proximity of the school building than there is today, yet not once did one of those rifles or shotguns harm anyone... as it has been said over and over... something has changed... but it's not the gun.  

Guns that function essentially like the commercially available AR, AK, Mini-14 and many others have been around for decades and decades... for the last 100 years to be honest.  Semi-automatics are not new and the basic function has not changed since their introduction into the market.  What has changed in their design is cosmetic and nothing more; more recreational shooters today favor the AR platform but in all truthfulness it's function is the same as the old rifles. I personally am not a fan of either the AR or AK rifles but that has nothing to do with their function, I own a Mini-14 which though it looks more like a 'conventional' rifle functions in the same basic manner and has equal magazine capacity.  I'm an artist and I just believe it to be a better-looking gun aesthetically, functionality wise though it's the same.

BUT... here's the problem... we're all wrapped up in discussing the "weapon" and this very act drains energy from combating the real cause(s).  The real causes aren't as easy to tackle, we can't go and picket, and protest and then go home thinking how 'morally superior' we are, how 'involved', how we are so much more 'insightful' than those who just want to 'cling' to their guns... The sad truth is that all these misguided protests and all these ill-conceived 'laws' accomplish is to divide us and to drain the focus and energy from what we all need to come together and confront.

The problem in this country is the behavior(s) of far too many children and far too many adults as well.  A bit of study revealed to me that the primary correlation in all of these acts of school violence is 'bullying'.  Almost 100% of these boys have been bullied and some were apparently bullied relentlessly. Of course, bullying isn't new either, it's been around forever, what has changed is the school's ability to confront these kids.  Today, not only are the students bullied but so are the teachers.  There is simply no way to address the discipline issues with any real effectiveness. Too many parents are no longer co-educators with the teachers and school administration, the school is basically left in the wind with no support from far too many parents and with outright hostility and confrontation again from far too many.  How will the kids respect the teacher and administration when the parents won't?  I see this lack of respect for and obedience of authority weekly in our Youth Group children, and it worries me greatly.

But back to bullying... today kids aren't just bullied at school and then they can retreat back home to some level of safety, no... today they are bullied even worse online. The level of cyber-bullying in today's society is shocking, and the behavior of the youth online is repulsive. I see this on my travels around the web, the vulgarity and disregard for other human life is shocking.  We have children live-streaming their own suicides and folks cheering them on.  We have Youtube videos of children fighting in bloody fist fights that are broadcast for our 'entertainment'... we have devolved as a society.

Instead of arguing about the 2nd Amendment, we ministers and lay people should be ministering and advocating for the family.  We need to enter into an honest debate, not about guns, but about family values, morals, empathy, the decay of the nuclear family, and somehow this needs to be done without becoming entrenched in political dogma.  We need to realize that when you condone abortion, that you're telling that child in sex education class that children are expendable if inconvenient, that they have zero value to society... we need to consider how that child from a broken marriage who is already used as a pawn by each parent against the other feels... they're already feeling inconvenient and now you tell them that human life is of no more value than to be torn apart or scrapped from a uterus... you're telling these children that no human life is of value, so then why are you surprised they have no regard for other's lives and suffering...

Broken homes are the norm today, we've allowed divorce and children out of wedlock to become the norm for families.  Bullying, domestic abuse, and absentee fathers pretty much cover all the risk factors for acts of school violence. We need to recognize that those ministers of old who we often hold in high regard are/were part of the problem.  They are the ones who failed to do an adequate job of pre-marital counseling.  Sadly, as I've discussed before on my blog, I divorced my first wife (we had no children, even as the heathen I was then, I would never have divorced her if children were involved) and ultimately I blame that on a lack of maturity on my part, my inability to communicate my hopes and dreams, and also on a complete lack of pre-marital counseling.  If Carolin and I had gone through the type of counseling I require of young couples I firmly believe we would have either remained married or perhaps more likely never gotten married at all.  For the record, the minister that performed my second marriage never required counseling either and he was a man highly regarded as a minister, if that was his normal procedure, for young couples, I'm sorry to say he failed in what I believe to be one of the most important functions of ministry.  The fact that my second wife and I remain happily married has had everything to do with our being better matches in our life goals and interests.

It is my opinion for whatever it's worth, that pre-marital counseling is vital and should be extensive in its scope.  I personally put all couples through at least four or five sessions of counseling ranging from one to two hours each meeting. I believe this kind of counseling and discussion can help immensely in preventing divorce and single parenthood.

We need to address our stances as a church on marriage and divorce, we need to provide more counseling to struggling couples, rather than passing stricter gun laws we need to pass stricter laws concerning divorce, especially if there are children involved.  We as a whole need to advocate harder for those who are being bullied in society, we need to come together and do a lot of things........ BUT, not one of those things is to become fixated upon the tool used in the violence that ultimately should be expected as a result of all our other failings.

The story of Cain and Abel does not mention the weapon, there's a reason for that... it's not about the weapon... it's about the heart... and the violence.

Let all of us, ministers and lay people alike focus on the people and not the inanimate object in the story.

Each of us needs to work in our little corner of the world, here I and our Church Council Vice Chair met yesterday with the High School Principal to discuss how we as a local church can better assist them. I have been in conversation with people locally and online trying to find solutions to these failings, solutions that we can implement here in our little town in Iowa. We are considering a number of ideas and will be in discussion as a church about how and where we should be involved.  Ultimately, we will do something to focus on the issue(s), we are not so naive as to think we can help everyone but we can help someone and that is what we shall do.

Bottom-line is that what is needed is building relationships, to actually come alongside these children, adults, and families... that's not easy to do... it's not easy to even figure out how to do... but, if you're in this 'gig' of being a Christian because it's easy, I've got some really bad news for you...

Be a blessing to someone today!

In Christ,
Roy

I welcome helpful dialogue about these issues, BUT, be forewarned if your comment is an attack upon the 'weapon', it will be deleted and it will never make the comments section.  Likewise, if you're going to blame 'gay marriage' or homosexuality, your comment will disappear into the ether of the internet.  If you so much as make an inference that President Trump is the problem 'poof' you're gone... this issue has been brewing under the surface for decades and neither Trump nor Obama for that matter are the issue... blame either and your comment is gone.

Honestly, if that's all you've got you're a large part of the problem and not a part of the solution.  We need to stop making excuses, we need to stop blaming 'things', we are the problem partially because of what we've done and also for what we've allowed... we've allowed ourselves to be divided, and it's only together that we can fix these problems. If we allow politicians and the media to continue to divide us... use us and our emotions to remain in power, to promote their agenda, or boost viewership... well, then we will continue together down this dark path.

May God's guidance be upon us all.