As a Virginia resident, as a United States resident, and as a father I am deeply saddened by the events in Blacksburg, VA today. The horrible actions of individuals(or groups of individuals) continue to shock me! Our world is changing for the worse and I am afraid we as a society have no real answers. I listened to CSpan on the way home tonight to try and listen to what was going on and to hear some updated reports of what was going on. For close to 20 minutes I got to hear a number of callers giving their condolences to the state of Virginia, the calls were from all across the country and about 20% of the calls began to call for more gun control. This saddened me even more.
We still do not know who did this?
We still do not know why someone would do this?
We still do not know how many people were involved in this violence?
We still do not know if their was one or two separate instances?
We do not know how this could of happened?
What I believe is that bad people do bad things! People with evil in their hearts will always be evil! Criminals used to have to pay for their crimes by death! Our jails used to try and rehabilitate small time offenders and teach them a road back into society. Do we do that now?
We used to take care of our children. We used to teach them the difference between right and wrong? We used to get a spanking if we chose to be bad. We used to watch Sesame Street and the Electric Company and the Muppets and now kids watch cartoons and TV shows filled with violence. We used to be kicked outside to play all day and if we watched more then an hour of TV it was a rare day. We used to ride bikes, skateboards, play touch football, pick up baseball and tag and we knew if we were winners or losers by the score at the end of the game. We used to play dodge ball and we learned to be quick or get hit. We knew not to hit someone in the head, or the group would stop the game and we would get a beating. We knew that if we did wrong there was a price to pay. We used to be able to explore and we had to walk or ride our bikes to school.
We used to learn about the golden rule and the 10 commandments. We used to go to Vacation Bible School and Catachism and we used to say the pledge of allegiance every day in class until I was in 9th grade and if we ever wanted to pray in class it was encouraged. I don't remember ever praying in class as a group but we used to have a moment of silence for all kinds of events and almost all of the class would say amen under their breath or aloud at the end of the moment. I remember praying to myself on many occasions in school.
Our world is changing and all of this technology is not helping to teach our children the skills of being able to discern from right or wrong. When I rode my skateboard too fast, I fell down and got a bruise. When I was mean to someone, I learned that it came back to me 10 fold. When I took something without asking, I got a spanking. When I lied, I got grounded. When I got poor grades, I was taught to work harder. I learned about right or wrong.
When I was young, I started shooting at age 5 with a small BB gun. From day one I was taught to never point it in the direction of another person. That lesson was repeated over and over and over for the rest of my life and I now repeat it to every person I come in contact with when I am around guns. It did not matter whether I was shooting a bb gun, a shotgun, a high powered rifle, an olympic target gun, or a 50 caliber at tremendous distances. I knew to never point it a person.
I have been blessed to have never been put in the situation where I would have to defend my life or the lives of my family. I know that I will not hesitate one second to protect my family with whatever means necessary to do so and I not show mercy. I would not ever shoot someone to hurt them or stop them, I will never point a weapon at someone unless I have to protect my family and it is the last resort. If put in that situation I will be shooting over and over until I am assured that threat has been eliminated. I know my father would of done the same for me, and his father before that would of done the same for him and so on.
It will never be the gun that chooses to kill someone! It is always the person who makes that choice. We need to do more to show the good in our society, to downplay the violence in our worlds, to highlight good over evil. We need to teach our children and youth that guns can be used for hunting, target practice or to bring friends together in camaraderie. We need to teach that guns in the hands of evil people are dangerous and we must teach our children how to defend themselves from evil.
We need to enforce the laws that are already on our books in regards to guns. WE DO NOT NEED MORE LAWS that are not being enforced. I know there is more then enough laws on the books in regards to assault, murder, killing people, brandishing a weapon in a public area, shooting in a public area. No laws stopped this from happening, more laws will not prevent it in the future! What will make a difference is people helping people learn the difference between right and wrong! I encourage all of society to get out there and make a difference in at least one persons life! Call it Pay it Forward, call it common sense, call it whatever you want, but if every one of us can make a difference in at least one or two peoples lives in a good way, we are going to have a lot less problems in our world!
This was sent to me as I was writing this post and it rings so true that I am going to add it to what I have written. Please go out there and make a difference!!!!!!!!!
DARRELL SCOTT TESTIMONY
Guess our national leaders didn't expect this, hmm? On Thursday, Darrell Scott, the father of Rachel Scott, a victim of the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado, was invited to address the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee. What he said to our national leaders during this special session of Congress was painfully truthful.
They were not prepared for what he was to say, nor was it received well. It needs to be heard by every parent, every teacher, every politician, every sociologist, every psychologist, and every
so-called expert! These courageous words spoken by Darrell Scott are powerful, penetrating, and deeply personal. There is no doubt that God sent this man as a voice crying in the wilderness. The following is a portion of the transcript:
"Since the dawn of creation there has been both good & evil in the hearts of men and women. We all contain the seeds of kindness or the seeds of violence. The death of my wonderful daughter, Rachel Joy Scott, and the deaths of that heroic teacher, and the other eleven children who died must not be in vain. Their blood cries out for answers.
"The first recorded act of violence was when Cain slew his brother Abel out in the field. The villain was not the club he used.. Neither was it the NCA, the National Club Association. The true killer was Cain, and the reason for the murder could only be found in Cain's heart.
"In the days that followed the Columbine tragedy, I was amazed at how quickly fingers began to be pointed at groups such as the NRA.
I am not a member of the NRA. I am not a hunter. I do not even own a gun. I am not here to represent or defend the NRA - because I don't believe that they are responsible for my daughter's death. Therefore I do not believe that they need to be defended. If I believed they had anything to do with Rachel's murder I would be their strongest opponent.
I am here today to declare that Columbine was not just a tragedy -- it was a spiritual event that should be forcing us to look at where the real blame lies! Much of the blame lies here in this room. Much of the blame lies behind the pointing fingers of the accusers
themselves. I wrote a poem just four nights ago that expresses my feelings best. This was written way before I knew I would be speaking here today:
Your laws ignore our deepest needs,
Your words are empty air.
You've stripped away our heritage,
You've outlawed simple prayer.
Now gunshots fill our classrooms,
And precious children die.
You seek for answers everywhere,
And ask the question "Why?"
You regulate restrictive laws,
Through legislative creed.
And yet you fail to understand,
That God is what we need!
"Men and women are three-part beings. We all consist of body, mind, and spirit. When we refuse to acknowledge a third part of our make-up, we create a void that allows evil, prejudice, and hatred to rush in and wreak havoc. Spiritual presences were present within our educational systems for most of our nation's history. Many of our major colleges began as theological seminaries. This is a historical fact. What has happened to us as a nation? We have refused to honor God, and in so doing, we open the doors to hatred and violence. And when something as terrible as Columbine's tragedy occur s -- politicians immediately look for a scapegoat such as the NRA. They immediately seek to pass more restrictive laws that contribute to erode away our personal and private liberties. We do not need more restrictive laws. Eric and Dylan would not have been stopped by metal detectors. No amount of gun laws can stop someone who spends months planning this type of massacre. The real villain lies within our own hearts.
"As my son Craig lay under that table in the school library and saw his two friends murdered before his very eyes, he did not hesitate to pray in school. I defy any law or politician to deny him that right t! I challenge every young person in America, and around the world, to realize that on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School prayer was brought back to our schools. Do not let the many prayers offered by those students be in vain. Dare to move into the new millennium with a sacred disregard for legislation that violates your God-given right to communicate with Him.
To those of you who would point your finger at the NRA -- I give to
you a sincere challenge.
Dare to examine your own heart before casting the first stone!
My daughter's death will not be in vain! The young people of this country will not allow that to happen!"
Do what the media did not - - let the nation hear this man's speech..
