The Daily News

A female college student kidnapped in Harrisburg, several home invasions and murders in Harrisburg and Lancaster,  a robber beats and terrorizes three elderly Mennonite women near Ephrata, a gunman shoots and kills innocent theater goers, and, very sadly, a young man breaks into an elementary school, after killing his mother, and guns down a host of teachers and first graders.  And that was just part of the news during a recent week.  And the reactions to all of these events included various degrees of unbelief, horror, sadness, anger, and fear.  Parents are afraid to send their kids to school.  Theater patrons look for possible escape routes.  Home security sales increase dramatically.  More folks purchase guns for self protection.  And, ironically, politicians who have chipped away religious expression and liberties, now actually quote scripture as an attempt at comfort.  And, politically, many press for new gun laws, especially longer waiting periods to purchase a gun.  That appears to be the nation's answer.  And every politician is getting soundbites promising to control guns.  But what a waste of time and energy since criminals and mentally unstable folks will continue to find guns no matter how long a legal waiting period may be.  Ironically, the shooter in Connecticut used his mother's guns. He didn't purchase them.  So how would a longer waiting period have stopped this violence?  And since when can morality be legislated?  There is no question that we live in a society where there are many unstable folks all around us and that is a problem.  The government says that 1 out of every 17 of us has a mental illness and less than 1/3 are getting any treatment.  In some cases this is a result of the increase in use of illegal drugs. And if drug control has been unsuccessful why do we think gun control will be any more effective?  It is interesting to note that several states have now made the purchase and use of some drugs legal and the Obama administration refuses to enforce federal drug laws.  Many young people have grown up with "legal" drugs to control their behavior problems - it seems almost everyone has an "alphabet type behavior problem" today.  Who knows what the longterm effect of these behavioral drug treatments will be.  And today our kids are growing up in a violent environment where television and computer games feature violence and killing and nobody seems concerned about controlling this, certainly not even the government or even most parents. And you need to be a little unbalanced yourself if you think these experiences don't effect behavior. Kids today seem tied to their smartphone and computer games. But it seems nobody really wants to talk about the main cause of these problems ... a little word with major consequences ...  SIN! That would not be politically correct.  We are living in a society where you are called intolerant if you believe in Biblical values and truths.  Judges and government officials openly remove Christian principles from everything in the name of "separation of church and state".  As a nation we openly approve of and support abortion in which many more unborn babies are killed each day than the number of first graders shot in Connecticut in one morning.  In the name of tolerance we have taken down the Ten Commandments from all public places, including schools.  And, as I remember, one of the commandments is "Thou shalt not kill".  But we can't talk about that in our schools.  So what more can we really expect in a society that has turned its back on true righteousness and promoted a "do whatever feels right to you" philosophy?   Media and government officials vainly look for "the reasons" and quick fixes, but ignore the truth which should be so clear to all who have open minds.  I think the scripture also tells us that whatever we sow, that we will also reap.  And maybe harvest time is upon us.  In my opinion, the only answers to this increasing violence are a national revival or the return of the Lord.  And since I feel that it may be too late for a national revival, my daily prayer is "come quickly, Lord Jesus"!