My heart has gone out with the rest of America to the victims in the Connecticut shootings. With all due respect, there is a very important neglect that I believe must be addressed. I cannot remain silent any longer.
The media consistently perpetuates the unforgiveness of violent crimes, but do you play along with it? I am referring to the death toll in Connecticut and any other murderous situations. The official count was reported as 20 children and 6 adults. What a loud declaration about the shooter and his mother! With all due respect to the accounted victims, the last death in the murder spree was also the first death. The last death was that of a man, Adam Lanza, whose heart died long before the shootings began. Troubled though he was, he wasn't exactly born a killer. IIPeter 2:19 reads, "...promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved."
As a mother myself, I feel a personal pain for this man's mother, Nancy Lanza. No, her child did not rise up and call her blessed. But if that wasn't hurtful enough, despite her efforts at 20 years of parenting, she isn't even included in the death toll. By their reports, the media mock her and spit on her grave as though this victim is the one who pulled the trigger.
I'm not saying there are NO accurate reports. Several sites have reported accurately. Take this one for example:
The youngest victim had a twin at the school. The oldest was the school psychologist. Another was the child of a jazz saxophonist. Among the 28 who died in the shooting in Newtown, Conn., were six teachers -- all women -- and 20 children, ages 6 and 7.
The two others who died were the gunman and his mother.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/16/15930533-victims-in-connecticut-shooting-daring-principal-fun-loving-teacher-6-year-old-twin-brother?lite
My second bone to respectfully pick is with the gun control debates sparked by the shootings. Last I checked, it was a PERSON who took innocent lives, not a gun. The gun was the means he chose to accomplish what was in his heart to do. A gun sitting on a table can do nothing on its own. It takes a murderous thought and a person to execute the thought. We don't outlaw transportation or hospitals or butcher knives even though those are ways innocent lives are lost. Why guns??? Adam Lanza had lost perspective. He was a sinner like the rest of us. He acted like a lost person, one without Jesus as his Savior. If you don't like that, become part of the solution. The biggest lie anyone can believe in all of this is that Satan does not exist, that it was the fault of one man alone.
Read Ephesians 6, the whole chapter. God says doing right by our parents is the first step in spiritual warfare. It leads to doing right by God which leads to the enemy's defeat. Yes, to help defeat violence in the world, we must begin in our own heart!
Our Constitutional right to bear arms must not be sacrificed in an attempt to reduce violence. Our right to bear arms was written into the Constitution by our forefathers at the founding of our country with the understanding that we are a Christian people and must be allowed the right to defend ourselves against those who would use weapons of mass destruction to put us in bondage to godless dictators. God did not take away our right to stand firm against enemy forces as seen in the spiritual weaponry of Ephesians 6. Why should we use our time of weakness in grieving to willfully weaken ourselves even more? Let's not throw reason out with the tragedy.
"Resist the devil and he will flee from you." I talk about how to do this in Healing Letters. This weekend I was on my local Craigslist website posting something on the "free stuff" page. I noticed several people there with high quality "free stuff" with the explanation that their offer was one of their "26 Acts of Kindness" in honor of the victims in Newtown, Connecticut. My first thought, of course was, "Twenty six?? What about the other two?!" But I also love the idea! I'll make mine "28 Acts of Kindness!" How do we defeat our very real adversary? We defeat violence with kindness! Have you ever tried to argue with someone who won't argue back? Yeah, do that to our "adversary the devil who walks around as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8). He hates it!
Lastly, to the friends and families, "After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you" 5:10. "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance" 2Peter 3:9.
With love and prayers for all,
Lisa
