four-minute friday: gun control
Go.
“Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.” That trite answer to heart-wrenching situations like the one that just unfolded on a college campus in Illinois, is disturbing to me.
Something is going on with young people today, something no one really seems to understand—myself included. Something that drives them to take a gun and shoot their classmates. Something that makes them feel so hopeless, so aimless, so hurting, that they resort to violence.
Not violence for violence sake, I don’t believe. Not just to be mean or cruel. But violence because, for some reason, it’s the only thing they can think to do with all the hurt they carry inside.
It breaks my heart.
The gun issue needs to be addressed. Absolutely. But more than that, the hurting-youth issue needs to be addressed. We need to find some way to reach these kids, to let them know there is a hope. That even if they’ve hit bottom, they are not alone. That they are seen, known, loved.
How? I have no idea. But we need to do something. Any ideas?
It’s true. Guns don’t kill people. But hurting hearts do.
Done.
I completely agree. I went to a valentine’s party last night and after dinner they had rented a movie called The Kingdome. I could barely sit through the first five minutes before I had to stand up and ask if everyone knew about what happened. Only 2 out of 10 had heard about this tragedy. I could no longer watch the movie so I went and sat in another room. One by one, they joined me, until the last person decided to turn the movie off and go home. It was just to close to home I guess. Maybe I’ll watch the movie again someday, but not for the sole purpose of entertainment. After just reading about this happening, I do not see how I could even call watching it on TV enjoyable.
Lord, help our hurting youth.
I love you.
I’m sorry I don’t think I made myself clear. In case you haven’t seen the Kingdome, it’s about terrorist attacks. In the first few minutes, Saudi Arabia opens fire on children and families at a baseball game.
This line punched me in the gut:
…so aimless…
So aimless that they have to aim a gun to feel as though thy have direction and purpose.
There are no easy answers. I think we may all need to take advice from a quote I heard by Mother Theresa once, “I just help the one I have before me.” This was her response when questioned about how she keeps from becoming overwhelmed among such poverty. This simple outlook seemed to enable a small woman to do great things. What would the world look like if we didn’t let the immensity of the situation paralyze us and we began to mobilize ourselves to help the person we had before us?
You seem to be writing what I can’t currently.
Thanks.
I don’t know what to do…I think We need to learn to listen to people more- to what they seem to be saying, what they’re not saying, what their eyes tell us, and pay attention to that. I think we cut ourselves off less, so that cliques-even in college- don’t make a person feel like they’re worthless to the rest of society. Because regardless of the fact that they may be “cooler” once they leave college, at present, their circumstances tell him/her that they aren’t worth too much based on their interactions (or lack thereof) with people.
I love you.
i agree. the issue is not guns but broken, hurting hearts. i hate that statistic that shows that at the current rate of evangelism only 4% of this generation of teens will come to know Jesus. while we, of course, need to use the influence we have in our daily lives i think it is important to follow the lead of some good ministries like battle cry.
I completely agree with everything that has been said. I think Becca hit the nail on the head in terms of being aware of what individuals are saying and not saying. As a college administrator, the news of the incident in Illinois hits home because it could have been my campus. In my profession we talk a lot about marginality and mattering. We have a huge responsibility to be on the look out for signs and to provide an environment where every person feels that they matter. Students who feel marginalized often become the subject in headlines across America. As this story unfolds, I’m sure we’ll be equipped with more information, but I know that in the case of VA Tech, the individual was extremely troubled and was what many might call an outcast. I’ve also noticed that students bring significantly more baggage to our college campuses today more than ever. They are over-medicated and overwhelmed. The complicated part of all of this is that ministering to this generation has to be a community effort, and by that I mean the global community–pastors, community leaders, teachers, friends, collegues, administrators, etc…unfortunately there is no easy solution. My heart truly goes out to all involved in this tragedy.
I sometimes wonder about my students. The ones I can see that are hurting. More than ever I am seeing the tendency of other students to target that fellow student rather than reach out to him/her. I think one answer might be to focus more on teaching character, specifically compassion. I have no doubt that kids can reach kids, often before adults can.
Oh, this is such a huge thing. I ask myself the same kinds of questions. About so many things in life. Always I come back to the same two base points: 1) Families. 2) Churches. Parents have SUCH MASSIVE influence on their kids’ lives. In my opinion, kids with a happy, healthy homelife ARE the kids that everyone wishes our schools were filled with. What does that mean? An increasing and overwhelming amount of our kids have terrbile home lives. Security in knowing who you are, that you’re loved no matter what, the ability to face negative situations and confrontation healthily, knowing how to manage stress, work, and play in your life … all of these are taught and thereby ingrained in us by our parents. Another huge one (I’m finding out) is diet. Once I’ve begun studying, it is simply amazing how many things in our lives pertain to how and what we feed ourselves. One very telling point is that a body that has all the nutrition it needs in a day is capable of handling stress with ease. The less nutrition you have, the less you are able to deal with stress. Most Western diets are so lacking in nutrition that clinical malnutrition is actually a problem. You don’t have to look like a waif to be suffering from malnutrition. You could be obese, in fact. Secondarily, churches! How many pastors are there anyway who are truly in love with their God and serve with passion? How many?! I feel like churches (which are a direct result of the leadership they sit under) are by-and-large so boring and apathetic, that to them the Word of God is nothing more than a math book you have to learn. This is the very hope of our lives!! Human nature is utterly at a loss to know how to deal with these kinds of stresses apart from His grace and instruction. So many people have no idea how exciting, helpful, full of life, interesting, and kind the Lord actually is. Why don’t they know?? What in the world are our churches teaching anyway? What are our pastors living? There are always some (such as the ones you good ladies lead and attend) that do have this fire and know what a life with God is all about. But I speak of the rest – where going is force of habit and forced. Hearts check out before they come and minds turn off.
To me, this is the crux of every one of these issues: social, political, economic. Parents and Pastors. That’s where it all comes down to. Anything else is more or less a fringe effort to restore what should have been there in the first place.