>From Where I Stand: A Teenager's Voice from Inside the Culture of Death
On April 20, 1999, there was yet another gruesome shooting in
Littleton, Colorado. Kids killing kids. And again, the entire nation in
its uproar
is trying to figure out why. I am eighteen years old. I live in a small
town near Madison,
Wisconsin.
A small town just like the ones where these horrifying shootings always
seem
to take place. Every time those stories come on the television, I can't
help but notice
how easily it could be my small town next. And I want to know why this is
happening
just as badly as any parent or Police chief or anchorman.
The thing is, I am right in the middle of it. I am in the same age group
as all of these high school kids. So I may have some insight for the
world
that has been otherwise unattainable since these shootings started some
years ago.
The night of the Littleton shooting, as I was flipping through the
various
news channels that were covering the story in Littleton, Colorado, I
heard
something that struck a chord in me. An anchorman was interviewing the
mother of a victim in the Jonesboro shooting. His question was: "If you
look at America in the 1950's, you will find that this kind of thing
never
happened; whereas if you look at America today, this kind of thing is
becoming more and more frequent. Why do you think this is happening?"
The woman, of course, could not answer the question. In fact, she didn't
really even try. But I did. I thought about it for a long time that
night.
And again the next morning, when my favorite morning radio talk show
asked
its listeners why they thought this has been happening.
Many people said it's the parents of the kids. Many people suggested
television and video games. Many people even turned to popular
musicians, looking to put the blame somewhere. But I will tell you what I
think it
is. What I, a regular teenager riding on the coattails of Generation
X, blame it on. It is not the parents or the movies or the rock stars. It
is
AMERICA. It is this culture of death, this culture in which liberals and
feminists and activists are so anxious to let anything be "OK" that the
once tightened, knotted rope of society is unraveling right beneath us.
Don't you see? There can be no order without discipline. All of those
things people think are causing children to run into a school and shoot
their teachers and peers and even kids they don't know-the movies, the
video games, the parents, the rap artists-they are only REFLECTIONS of
our society. Society breaks down, from one big metaphoric "family" into
50
metaphoric "families" and so on and so on, until you have the actual
FAMILY,
the one with the parents and the kids and the dog. It is not one
thing or two things; it is the attitude of an entire "familiar" nation
being reflected back at us in the kids.
Just as that anchorman suggested, something was different about the
1950's. WE WERE CONSERVATIVE. We had boundaries; we had a definite
knowledge of right and wrong throughout the entire nation. We didn't have
feminists pushing women so hard to go get a job that a woman who didn't
have a job was somehow "bad," thereby leaving kids at home with
inadequate
parental guidance and often times with parents who were truly unhappy.
We didn't have liberals fighting so avidly to legalize everything that it
was
at the point of completely blurring the line between good and bad. We
didn't have
a nationwide media surge dedicated to sex and violence so intense that if
you
weren't playing killing video games at age 14, then
you were trying to choose between contraceptives beforehand or abortion
afterwards. We didn't have disputes over whether or not we should help
someone who is dying die sooner-over whether or not we should ASSIST
them in committing SUICIDE. And we certainly didn't have a President who
was
in favor of NATO bombing and killing children in Serbia come on the
television to grieve the loss for the families of children killed in
America.
We live in a loosely tied society, a culture dedicated to death. If you
don't want the kid, kill it. If you don't want to live out the rest of
your God-given days, kill yourself. Or better yet, have someone else come
help you do it. I guess, no matter how horrible or gruesome or
gut-wrenching it may be, it was just a matter of time before someone got
that "killing-as-a-means-to-an-end" idea stuck in their head for the part
between birth and death as well. Everything that happens in families
and cities and states and countries is the mirror image of the big
picture.
We are falling apart as a society. Am I-some random normal teenager in
Farmertown, U.S.A.-the only one who sees that? It's sad and it's hard to
believe, but what's worse is that it's scary. I think it's time for
our-America's-Mom
and Dad to ground us-to say, "If you don't shape up by the time I count
to three..."
And then really count to three. Because we are running wild and pretty
soon we're
going to be too far from home to ever get back.
There was once a great saying by a famous man that has rung true
throughout the history of mankind-in every family and in every society
and in every social group and in every religion-it was a frighteningly
true
statement that cannot be disputed. I am reminded of it now, in the wake
of yet another indescribably tormenting result of a nation gone
haywire...
"By their fruits you shall know them."
by Sarah Roney
April 21, 1999
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amen to that, Sarah. Just to add my two cents: The reason America
has fallen into the state it is in today is because we have turned our
backs on GOD. Why didn't these type of things happen in the 50's?
Because America was GOD CENTERED. Children were taught how to
read from the BIBLE. They started each day with a prayer. They ended
each day with a prayer. Judging by the last line of Ms. Roney's essay,
these are the things she believes, too, but she was not allowed to
mention
GOD in her essay for fear of sever punishment. GOD is not allowed in our
schools anymore. The creation has expelled the CREATOR. That
is why these things are happening. In the absence of LIGHT is darkness.
GOD is light, evil is darkness. You kick the LIGHT out, what is there to
fill the empty space but darkness. Think about it, and pray for our
nation.
Pray for our nations leaders. GOD only knows why we have the President
we do, but GOD has him in office for a specific reason. Pray for GOD's
judgement to pass by this nation. Proven Biblical records show what
becomes of nations who receive GOD's judgement. Sodom and
Gommorah; Babylon; Rome; Egypt. Pray that America doesn't enter the
list.
"...One nation under GOD..."
Sam Harry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I have opinions of my own - strong opinions -
but I don't always agree with them."
Get secure free e-mail that you don't need Web access to use
from Juno, the world's second largest online service.
Download your free software at http://www.juno.com/getit.b.html.
|