Another horrible headline. Other nations can't understand this, and frankly we don't get much of a handle on it either. We're not supposed to understand the powers of darkness, but what's frightening is that so many are drawn to it nevertheless. In an attempt to be positive, some people are spiritually naive. But one thing proven every time we have a publicized random killing is this: there is an evil that lurks in the hearts of men. You may not like to recognize this fact, and you may not want to call it "sin" but come on, get real, there is a dark side to human existence.
The depravity of human nature is a basic bible truth. There are bad people. In fact we all are bad, only some are more bad than others. Polite company coaches us to cover this unpleasant fact with pretentiousness. Those who deny this are always nonplussed to explain these all-too-frequent events like Columbine, Duke, Denver, and now Aurora. The news media is stretched until it uncovers something like crisis events in the life of the perpetrator to make some semblance of rationality of these awful killings.
The gun control debate flares up again. But we are way too far down the road for this kind of solution even if we wanted to go there. Do we want neighborhood disputes to be settled with gunfights like the wild west? Would James Holmes have been deterred by a citizen with a revolver? The scenario I can well imagine sees the perp with his body armor and assault rifle with multiple rounds of high velocity ammo hardly more than aggravated by a few deflected shots from the good guy. But then he concentrates his barrage on the good guy, who surely dies in this scenario. He is hopelessly overwhelmed by the imbalance of fire power. It is possible that fewer people would have lost life, but that is not even a necessary conclusion of this scenario.
I want to suggest that assault rifles ought not to be in possession of any citizen. I see the importance of hunting rifles, target guns, and licensed revolvers for personal protection. But assault rifles were made for the very purpose of killing many people quickly. Then I think of the founding fathers who left us the heritage of the right to bear arms, and they wanted that right just for this very purpose to oppose an oppressive government. I think they would have approved of the citizenry bearing assault rifles. The only advantage of banning guns that I can imagine is that police could arrest gang members for the mere possession of a gun.
Even other nations that are classified as a "free" country, do not know the degree of freedom we have in America. We like to go wherever we want and do whatever we want. This is a dangerous thing when we are talking about depraved human beings. Sinful people want to do sinful things, and what makes our country work is not the freedom we allow, but the checks and balances that are in place. We are a nation of law, and, no matter how you may curse it, the system of law makes us work better than others. When authority is corrupt, we have the free press to expose the power brokers and bring them down. Madoff made a billion with a long lived poncy scheme, but he was eventually discovered, and he is in prison.
No, the real solution for the ugliness of murder we see in our frequent headlines is still found in curing the human heart. Though there is iniquity at the root of every human heart, there is a cure for those who turn to Jesus Christ for help. The good news may be old, but it is still fresh in it's ability to save. Jesus bore our sins in his own body on the cross, so that we might be changed and helped to live for Him. There will still be dangerous killers among us, but there is another world to anticipate in which there is no iniquity, and consequently no more tears, pain or sorrow. How can you not love Jesus for that?
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