Gun Control? Or A Change In Values?

I just saw a public service announcement about gun deaths in the United States.

I want to start off by saying gun violence is a terrible thing, and I am saddened when people are killed. 

Depending on the shooter, whenever a mass shooting takes place our media, elected representatives, and social media start complaining about the guns in our country and how we should just get rid of all guns. 

I think it’s obvious that guns are dangerous, and we should do everything we can to keep guns out of the wrong hands.  But there’s a deeper problem in our society.

We teach our kids in the Big Bang Theory.  All of creation and our own lives are the result of a huge galactic accident.

We teach our kids in Evolution, that life evolves and that humans are the result of billions of years of genetic accidents. 

We teach our kids that following a religion is useless, that God isn’t real and that prayer is useless. 

We teach them sex, the means by which they are conceived, is a meaningless act, meant only for pleasure, so we give them the means to avoid getting pregnant.  We teach them sex isn’t a valuable-enough act to save for the person they’ll marry. 

We teach them marriage isn’t a valuable institution.  They are taught marriage is only a piece of paper, as if commitment to a person is not worth more than that.  They are taught by “conventional wisdom” that they should “test out” a person before they decide if they want to marry them, as if another person has no more value than a car.  Parents condone them moving in together without teaching them that anyone can move in together, but it takes real thought and commitment to decide who to marry. 

Marriage takes real work and isn’t always easy.  Moving in together shortcuts that and either party is free to leave at any time.  When parents get divorced it sets a bad example for their kids.  I think there are valid reasons for divorce.  When people throw away their marriage because they’re bored or because they think they’ll be happier with someone else, or their eye catches sight of another person, we set bad examples for our kids.  It’s up to parents to do everything they can, and I can’t stress enough, within reason, to stay together. 

We teach our kids that they are invaders in women’s bodies.  We teach them they are inconveniences that interrupt our lives.  We teach them that their parents could have killed them up to a certain point before their births.  Some people believe women should have the right to kill them at any point up to and even after their birth. 

We teach them their sexual identities are up to them, erasing yet another constant in their lives.  The identities they were born with don’t matter.  There’s no constant at all in the universe, so why shouldn’t our kids be able to just change their identities altogether? 

There’s nothing they can trust.  There’s nothing stable in their lives.  Their lives don’t matter.  Other lives don’t matter.  Society wants to teach us we’re self-important and entitled and also not important at all at the same time. 

And then everyone wonders why gun violence occurs. 

Why should a person not commit atrocities if life doesn’t matter?  If there are not consequences for actions, why does gun violence matter? 

The good news is that Jesus teaches us that our lives have value.  We are not galactic or genetic accidents or invaders in our mothers’ wombs.  Sex is a beautiful, meaningful act that God meant for us to share with the person He always knew we would spend the rest of our lives with.  Marriage is a sacred institution and living with someone isn’t something meant to be entered into lightly.  Jesus teaches us we are made in the image of God and we have value from even before we were conceived.  Marriage gives kids the proper framework to enter into the world, when parents can lovingly guide them through life to be productive members of society to the glory of God. 

God loves us the way we were made and wants the best for us.  It doesn’t mean all our desires please Him.  We have to deny desires that are not pleasing to Him.  We all have evil desires God wants us to not give into.  He will not yield on those points.  If we choose to deny Him and choose to follow what we think is right, we will not enter Heaven.  Hell is a real place.  If we deny Jesus in this life, why would we think He would allow us to enter Heaven in the next? 

I am aware humans are not perfect people and that Christians don’t always behave in the best way.  For that, I apologize. 

What Jesus teaches us in the Bible is better source material than what society teaches.  It is better to start with a good teaching and get results from that than to start with a bad teaching and reap the consequences. 

Maybe if we weren’t so prideful and arrogant as to think we know it all and that God knows nothing, our kids wouldn’t think it was okay to kill each other. 

Blessings,

Pastor Neil