By: Dale
Weckbacher
Proverbs
22:6
Teach
your children to choose the right path, and when they are older, they will
remain upon it.
NLT
This verse is a go to verse for parents, especially when
children go astray. It is another source
of assurance contained in God’s Word, giving comfort to parents. Unfortunately, in our society today, the
right path is often blurred.
Our secular media and education system is based on
humanism, modernism, and post-modernism which teach a philosophy of the absence
of absolute truth, defining truth as whatever one wants it to be. (1)
(2)
(3) Perhaps you are reading this and have a
child, or know someone with a child that was raised in a Christian home and
after going off to college, returned having abandoned their Christian faith and
replaced it with one of these secular philosophies. If that is you, I want to encourage you to
hang on to the assurance offered by Proverbs 22:6 and continue praying for
these wayward children. Even though it
may seem impossible, with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26) Even the
best efforts of the secular media and education system to remove the seeds of
the Gospel planted when these children were young, it can be overcome with the
help of the Holy Spirit. The truth planted
in their hearts when they were young will come out again.
On Friday May 23, 2014, Elliot Rodger, aged 22, went on a
shooting and stabbing rampage killing seven people including himself and
injuring 13. Of course, as with all such
tragedies, which are becoming all to frequent, we are treated to experts, or so
called experts, postulating the probable cause of these people deciding to go
on their killing sprees.
Some of these experts claim that the ability of someone
to freely purchase a firearm, something by the way protected by the second
amendment of our constitution, causes them to snap. Others claim that violent movies, television
shows, and video games cause these individuals to snap. Others claim that it is over prescribing
anti-depressant drugs that causes these individuals to snap.
Even though these claims may seem logical on the surface,
a deeper investigation reveals they do not address the real reason that causes
these individuals to snap. For example:
1) Guns
– Thousands, possibly millions, in the United States own firearms. The vast majority of these individuals never
use their guns to shot another human unless it is in self-defense. Therefore, logically we cannot assume that
just placing a gun, or some other weapon, in the hands of an individual turns
them into some psychotic killer.
2) Violence
in the media – There is no doubt that there has been an increase in the level
of violence portrayed in our media through movies, television, video games, and
even the internet. However, millions of
people watch this violence on the media but only a handful become psychotic
killers. I remember when many blamed the
Beatles White Album for the Charles Manson murders. In fact, Manson’s attorneys
even used it as a defense for his actions. (4) As a Beatle fan, I have listened to this
album several times and have never become a psychotic killer, or even
entertained the thought of becoming one.
It is therefore not logical to believe that simply seeing a violent act
in the media makes one become a psychotic killer.
3) Anti-depressant
drugs – Medical science has produced many miraculous cures for diseases. We no longer see people dying from
tuberculosis or polio due in large part to advances in medical science. Likewise, medical science has made inroads in
the science of treating mental illness. Part
of these advances involves the use of drugs.
(5) For many these drugs mean they no longer need
to be locked up in an institution and can be productive members of society
living normal lives. Of course, as with
all drugs, a person must use them as their doctor instructs them to and must
not stop taking them unless their doctor orders it. Once again, since thousands use these drugs
and do not become psychotic mass murders, it is not logical to conclude that
everyone taking these medications will become a psychotic killer.
So what causes individuals like Elliot Rodger to go on a
mass killing spree? Perhaps they come
from broken or dysfunctional homes where they were never exposed to the right
path in their lives. We have succeeded
in removing God, the Bible, and Prayer from our education system and the media
continually takes shots at God and morality.
Void of any sense of morality, these individuals turn to
the secular philosophies of the media and education system that teach that
truth is whatever they believe it to be.
Left without any hope, assurance, or morality, when these individuals’ lives
become hopeless they have no moral compass in their lives, so some of them may
justify simply killing those they believe have harmed them.
However, even though these individuals were not raised in
an atmosphere where they were taught the right path for their lives, it is not
too late. Perhaps you are reading this
and know of someone going through a struggle in their lives right now. Perhaps this person was not raised in a Godly
home and may not even know anything about a God that loves them. However, I believe God has placed them in
your life for a reason.
It you know of such a person, I encourage you to begin
praying for them. Then, in a
non-threatening and non-intrusive way begin sharing the hope you have found in
your life. Perhaps just planting this
seed in their hearts will give hope and some assurance in their lives. If you believe they need professional help,
help them get it.
Jesus last words before ascending to heaven were to share
the Gospel with everyone. It is the
great commission and is not just the duty of pastors and missionaries but is
the duty of every believer in Christ. In
three weeks from today, I will be making my new book ‘Empowered Evangelism’
available. The purpose of this book is
to empower believers to share their faith with others and answer some of the
tough questions we may encounter.
As soon as the book is available, I will provide a link
on this blog so stay tuned for further details and may God bless you.
1. Edwards, Fred. What is Humanism. americanhyumanist.org.
[Online] The American Humanist Association. [Cited: August 31, 2013.]
http://americanhumanist.org/humanism/what_is_humanism.
2. MDC. History
of Modernism. www.mdc.edu. [Online] [Cited: August 31, 2013.]
http://www.mdc.edu/wolfson/academic/ArtsLetters/art_philosophy/Humanities/history_of_modernism.htm.
3. PhD., Louis
Hoffman. Premodernism, Modernism, & Postmodernism:. www.postmodernpsychology.com.
[Online] [Cited: September 7, 2013.]
http://www.postmodernpsychology.com/Philosophical_Systems/Overview.htm.
4. UMKC. The
Influence of the Beatles on Charles Manson. law2.umkc. [Online] [Cited:
June 3, 2014.] http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/manson/mansonbeatles.html.
5. Web MD. Drugs
to Treat Mental Illness. www.webmd.com. [Online] Web MD. [Cited: June 3,
2014.] http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/medications-treat-disorders.
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