People Kill People

There has sure been a rash of shootings lately, hasn't there?

In Los Angeles, 8 people ranging in age from 10 to 68 were shot apparently at random. In Little Rock, a student at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock was wounded in a drive-by shooting. In Bristol, TN, four people were shot to death in a housing complex. The gunman later shot himself to death. A woman in San Pablo, CA was gunned down. It is believed that she was not the intended victim. And that was just what the news reported on Wednesday, February 27.

Anti-gun folks raise the alarm. "See? People shouldn't have guns. We ought to eliminate all guns." Pro-gun folks hold up the 2nd Amendment and claim it's their right, but they like to end the debate with this: "Guns don't kill people; people kill people." Having defended their right to have a gun, they walk away, smug and victorious.

And I sit there and wonder, "How does that help? How does that answer the problem? People are getting killed. How does it help that problem for me to know that guns don't kill people?" Mind you, I don't disagree. Place a gun on the kitchen table, and it is my contention that people could walk by that gun all day and it would never kill anyone. Someone needs to pick it up, point it, and pull the trigger. And I'm in favor of gun ownership. That's not my point. My point is this: Why is it that so many people are being killed by guns? No, that's not even the question. Why are so many people killing people?

Maybe it would be more difficult to kill if guns weren't around, but let's face it -- murder would remain. Maybe if we outlawed guns, only outlaws would have guns, but let's face it -- murder would remain. It seems as if, although gun regulation has increased, so has murder. Why is that? It's not guns. They've been around a long time. They've even been more available than they are now. And when violent crime statistics show a decrease, it's not because people are getting nicer; it's because law enforcement is getting smarter. Still, it seems that more people are pulling triggers in horrendous circumstances than ever before. Why?

It's not guns. I would think that this would be obvious. People with guns in previous eras weren't killing people as much as people with guns today are. I would suggest, instead, that people have changed. Perhaps that's not entirely accurate. Society has changed, allowing people to operate more in their baser levels. We've allowed more violence into our lives. I don't buy that "violent video games make violent children", but I do understand that it has the effect of inoculating them to some degree. We have more violent entertainment, more violent media, more violent games. People feed themselves on music about violence. We thrive on it. What is a newscast, for instance, without a story of violence? And look at the TV shows that are most popular. That would be the crime shows. But violent influences are only a start. As long as a person has a strong influence that says, "Humans have intrinsic value and should not be killed", the violence stays at the head level and doesn't reach the action level. It's like stories of dragons and ogres. As long as we know they're not real, they remain interesting but unreal stories. As long as we believe that humans are valuable, violence in the media remains horrific even while we watch, like a car crash in a race.

Society, however, has moved on from there. We've become largely schizophrenic. We have no problem murdering millions of babies in the womb while passing laws that murdering a pregnant woman is a double homicide. We cry out for human worth while removing God from the market place of ideas, the One who gives humans intrinsic worth. We substitute naturalism for theism and make Man a biochemical bag and then wonder why people view human life as less valuable than we do.

So, with the value of human life removed or, at best, standing perilously on no substance, the violence we're feeding ourselves in our games, shows, news, and music becomes normative. Why not kill? Why not pick up a gun and shoot some people? What's preventing it?

I'm not suggesting the answer is as simple as that. There are lots of contributing factors. Christianity's voice has diminished with the "seeker sensitive" approach that says, "Don't offend them." Self-centeredness, rather than something to teach out of a child, is becoming the expected norm. (Of course, if I'm the most important person in the world, then whatever I want to do is the most important thing ... and killing you is no problem.) General morality is on the decline, so that the things that were considered taboo yesterday are standardized today. There are these and many other factors at work here. And the problems aren't diminishing.

Guns don't kill people; people kill people. And our society, in its move away from God, is making it more and more likely that people will use guns -- or any other method available -- to kill more and more people. We can't dismiss God from society and expect the values God brings to remain. It won't work. People aren't that stupid.