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To the Editor:
We know Jesus is returning soon. In Matthew 24 Jesus said just before He returns it will be, “as the days of Noah.” Genesis 6 tells us about the days of Noah, “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” Every day we have people murdered in our big cities. A record number of people are wisely leaving big cities. Recently we also had mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, where 10 died, and Uvalde, Texas, where 21 died. Pray for those who have lost loved ones. A mass shooting is an incident involving multiple victims of gun violence. When four or more are killed the FBI defines it as mass murder.
The Bible says to be slow to speak and don’t jump to conclusions. Issues and people can be complex and it is best to wait for more details before placing the blame. The major media at first tried to use the Buffalo shooting to increase division in America by saying he was a white conservative Christian racist. This was proven to be wrong. While the shooter is white and sounds like a racist according to his own manifesto he isn’t conservative or Christian. The shooter is a self-proclaimed atheist and hates conservatism and Christianity. The shooter said he was a fascist and socialist. He probably supported Biden or Bernie Sanders. Some said we need stronger gun control but Buffalo, N.Y., already has the strongest in the country. The shooter may have picked Buffalo because he knew no one would be carrying guns. We can blame Satan and the shooters who were deceived by Satan. As the Bible says in Ephesians 6 we fight not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Evil wins if they divide Americans. Evil loses big if Christians put on the whole armor of God and spread the gospel — the good news of Jesus! It is a heart issue and the answer is Jesus.
According to Dennis Prager in the decade of the 1950s there was one mass shooting in America. During the 1960s there was six mass shootings. During the 1970s there was 13 mass shootings. During the 1980s there was 32 mass shootings. During the 1990s there was 42 mass shootings. A total of 94 mass shootings were recorded in the 50-year period from 1950 to 2000. There have been 213 mass shootings so far in 2022. Instead of focusing on fixing the blame on a government leader or the need for more gun control as the media wants to, we should study the causes and reasons to fix the problem. The Christian website www.christianheadlines.com article “What we know about gunmen who carry out mass shootings” said, two criminologists who study public mass shooters conclude “Some perpetrators (shooters) are seeking fame and notoriety. However, most school shooters are motivated by a generalized anger. Their path to violence involves self-hate and despair turned outward at the world…” One Christian professor said, “Almost every major school shooter since Columbine suffered from dad-deprivation. Hurt boys hurt others!”
Dennis Prager lists four reasons for the record increase in mass shootings. Reason one is the decline of religion. Religion provides a needed community. Church goers don’t do mass shootings. Reason two is decline in marriage. Marriage matures men. Married men don’t do mass shootings. Reason three is decline of positive male role models. Less fathers are raising their children than ever before. Reason four is liberal (left) encourages grievance and victim mentality causing evil. I would add some more reasons. Reason five is legal and taxpayer funded abortion has devalued life. Reason six is violent video games and movies have caused a lack of empathy for others and a death culture that celebrates violence. Reason seven is America has rejected Jesus as Lord and Savior and has chosen self-worship and God gave self-worshipers over to a reprobate mind as Romans 1 says. Without Jesus people are filled with anger, selfishness and hopelessness. Of course reason seven is the main reason. Psalm 2 says, “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?” Because of pride and rejection of Jesus as their king is why the heathen rage.
Pastor Geoffrey Grider said, “Just as prohibition didn’t stop anyone from drinking alcohol, just as the war on drugs didn’t stop anyone from buying, selling or taking drugs, any and all efforts to ban guns will also likewise fail. All these terrible things in America are not happening because we need new laws, different laws or stronger laws. They are happening because we, as a nation, have rejected the Lawgiver (Jesus) who created us, and His judgment is the result!”

D.D. Nave
Elizabethton