To the Readers' Forum:
What a horrific tragedy - 12 innocent people murdered and 58 others injured at a Colorado theater. We have had a long line of terrible mass shootings in this country over the past 30 years, and this has got to be one of the worst. It's also getting clearer that it can happen anywhere, even in small towns like Chardon, Ohio. Evil, violent people are on the increase among us and no one knows when they will erupt.
I've said for years that this kind of thing will unfortunately only happen more frequently until this nation turns back to God. We have thrown God out of the schools and public arena, and taught kids that they are nothing more than evolved slimy algae. We have devalued human life by legalizing abortion, have glorified disobedience to almost all of God's commands, and taught a generation that there are no moral absolutes. The words of 2 Timothy 3:1-4 are coming true before our eyes. And yet most people still wonder why such atrocities are occurring.
I grieve for those who have been affected and am praying for them. I was living in Virginia when the VT massacre took place. It is an unbelievably horrible time for so many. But people need to also realize why these things are happening. Many in the media are saying the culprit committed these crimes because of mental illness. This "insanity defense" we've heard over and over in the past generation is tired, misleading, and ridiculous. Mentally ill people aren't killers. They don't go and kill their children, husbands, wives, or innocent strangers. They don't shoot folks at restaurants or schools or theaters. We've always had mentally ill people among us! Yet just a few decades ago Americans knew nothing of horrific crimes like this.
Hitler, Stalin, and Qaddafi weren't evil because of mental illness either. Our society needs to wake up to the fact that human beings are not intrinsically good. We are sinful, and sometimes very wicked. The human heart is "deceitful" and "desperately sick" (Jeremiah 17:9). Keep hardening the heart, keep making wrong choices, and you become capable of brutal and unspeakable acts. Contrary to what the so-called experts teach today, we all need God, we need an inner regeneration. God's forgiveness and this transformation is available through the power of Jesus Christ, the One who paid the price for our sins.
Randall S. Braley
Jamestown