Commentary - Sandyhook, the Siren’s Song

 

I’m not sure evil can be, or is meant to be, “understood”. The media, the officers in charge of investigating this tragedy and the politicians stand on podiums filled with their positions and their importance . . . . . and say what?????

The media breathlessly speak of the violence, the tragedy, the heart wrenching quality of the photos of parents and friends reeling from the deaths of children and friends . . . .

The investigators – some desperately trying to maintain their composure – talk of crime scenes, dead children, “safety measures” that had recently been put in place . . .

And politicians seemly lick their chops at yet another opportunity to fulfill a long-held desire to finally make all Americans submit to the “safety of the state” rather than allowing them the freedom to protect themselves . . . .

Yet none even acknowledge the root cause of this tragedy . . . . evil.

Our country has been on a decade’s long march to eliminate “good” from our society. When I was in elementary school those many decades ago we began each day by rising next to our desk, folding our hands and bowing our heads and reciting the Lord’s Prayer (in our public school), a constant reminder that our nation was a gift from God and a humble request that He maintain a watch over our country. This was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag – our solemn oath to our flag, our nation and our country’s purpose in history.

We were watched and protected by teachers with what my mom lovingly described as a “firm hand” which I experienced at times on the seat of my pants.

An acknowledgement of God, an expectation of good behavior, a belief in a country’s founding principles and destiny . . . . an immersion in “good”.

Things have changed. God no longer finds a place in public schools . . . . or public property . . . . or public squares . . . . or in red suits with kettles in front of stores . . . . or in greeting cards . . . . or in the meaning of words like “Holiday” rather than “Christmas” . . . .

Our entertainment is filled with crass remarks, foul language, gratuitous violence and raw sexual pleasure . . . . Old fashioned qualities of a husband’s strength (of course, we no longer “need” husbands), a wife’s love, a full day’s work, a Sunday spent at worship . . . . these are left to the Hallmark Channel while surrounded by death and destruction.

Our political arena is filled with talk of voting out of “revenge”. We see vendors and news reporters beaten by union thugs because of voter’s decisions. He hear speeches expressing raw anger because a business owner is successful and demands that their success be taken from them and distributed to the “less fortunate”.

And we wonder . . . . how could such evil as displayed at Sandyhook even exist???

Really??? Really???

Nature abhors a vacuum. When faith in a higher power is eliminated, when faith in a country’s birth and destiny destroyed, when an expectation of success is removed, when the concept of “family” is shattered, when self-reliance is replaced by dependence it is replaced by something else.

It is replaced by the vanity of self-importance, the folly of an accidental founding, the “knowledge” that everyone will “pass”, the belief that families have no need for strong fathers or loving mothers and that the government will take care of us all.

When the space filled with “good” is hollowed out and emptied . . . .

There are other beliefs ready and waiting to fill a gullible public’s mind and heart . . . .

Evil takes many forms . . . . Sandyhook is but one of them . . . .

And make no mistake – what happened is pure evil.

While politicians look to “gun control” and the police look to “backgrounds” and the news media line side-by-side to report it all . . . .

Our solution remains in the “good” that we have abandoned, the acceptance of a God’s love that we are rejecting and the strength of a nation that was surely created to promote the individual over the government . . . .

We need to reject the “Siren’s Song” of an easy solution and accept the challenge of a return to “the good” that we are letting slip away day by day.