LETTERS: WE KNOW THE REASON FOR SHOOTINGS

To the editor:

Another school in another community is in shock over the senseless killing spree by students on other students. This time it looks like premeditated murder. The involved community was near Jonesboro, Ark., almost right in our own backyard. The pattern was similar to other recent school shootings in West Paducah, Ky., and Pearl, Miss.: students bringing guns to school and killing fellow students and teachers. We react in shock and disbelief as the details unfold and we try to make sense of it.

We pretend not to understand how this could happen in the heartland of America, but actually we understand it very well. We are just in denial that it could happen here rather than in some other city.

It began with the appointment of leftist-liberal judges to the Supreme Court and the federal bench. A decision was handed down in 1963 which said praying at school graduations and athletic events was a violation of the constitutional separation of church and state. That's a myth, as no such wording exists in our Constitution. The concept is only found in a private letter written by Thomas Jefferson. Instead of fighting for our right to pray or conduct Bible studies or observe traditional religious holidays such as Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas, we reacted by becoming defensive and apologetic. Now our holidays have shifted to the secular. Easter has become Earth Day. Thanksgiving is a time to thank the Indians, not God. And Christmas is not a mid-winter holiday. The Gideons are no longer permitted to distribute New Testaments free to elementary school students. However, they are allowed to stand on the sidewalk and offer them as students hurry to catch their buses.

God and religion are under attack in our public schools. Even the mere mention of God of Jesus Christ sends school officials running for cover. This assault on traditional moral values by the ACLU and federal judges has created a moral vacuum. Many parents offer little or no moral instruction. And many students seldom or never attend church or Sunday school. The result is that this moral vacuum must be filled by some other belief system or philosophy. One such system is moral relativism, which teaches that there are no moral absolutes. Nothing is ever always right or always wrong. Another idea is situation ethics, which teaches that every situation must be evaluated and judged on its own merits, even the use of guns to settle grudges and arguments where innocent bystanders may be killed.

Our schools are becoming armed camps. Students regularly bring guns and knives to school and use them against other students in scenarios that are remarkably similar to TV programs or computer games. Instead of surrounding our schools with prayer, we are surrounding them with barbed wire and metal detectors. God and moral values have been kicked out, but Satan and drug dealers have been allowed inside. Guards patrol the school campuses and ride the buses.

During these shooting sprees, there are frequent requests for prayer as the dead and wounded are being carried away. Spiritual comfort and counseling is freely available. Perhaps the prayers should have been offered before the tragedy rather than afterward.

So don't ask how these tragedies could happen, because now we know.

We remember very well the lessons we have learned in the past about sowing and reaping. Now it looks like we're reaping.

GERALD W. BEAM

Dexter