The nation was appalled last week when an 18 year old named Salvador Ramos walked into Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas and slaughtered 19 fourth-grade children and two teachers. The tragedy became even more excruciating – if that were possible – when it became apparent that local law enforcement waited outside of the classroom for over an hour while Ramos carried out his massacre. During this time, teachers and students inside the classroom repeatedly called 911 begging for help. Horrified parents gathered outside the school, desperately urging the police to immediately storm the shooter. Finally, a Border Patrol tactical team charged into the classroom and killed Ramos.
It may be quite some time before we learn exactly what transpired that day. There will be many questions. Initially it was reported that Ramos entered the school unopposed through a side door which had been propped open by a teacher. Later accounts suggested that the door was shut although unlocked. Many schools have protocols in place whereby visitors are limited to a single point of entry, making security much more feasible. Why was Ramos so easily able to enter the school?
At least a half dozen police officers arrived at the scene only minutes after Ramos entered the school. There was an initial exchange of gunfire between the police and Ramos. But rather than treating the situation as an “active shooter” event, the commanding police officer elected to transition to a “barricaded suspect” protocol. An active shooter would demand that police immediately confront the shooter in order to prevent further loss of life. With a barricaded suspect scenario, the police believe that the assailant is no longer an imminent threat to innocent life and can be dealt with in a more measured fashion. Steven McCraw, head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, called this the “wrong decision, period.” Why was the decision made, despite continued audible gunfire from the classroom as well as the 911 calls from those inside?
Everyone knows the old dictum of the newspaper industry: if it bleeds, it leads. This is just as true in the world of modern media. The events which transpired at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde seized the nation’s attention. We struggle to imagine what could have plunged Salvador Ramos into such a dark abyss. How could he have considered, let alone committed such an act of evil? We strain to wrap our minds around the horrific experience of the students who witnessed such brutal violence. Especially poignant was the story of 11 year old Miah Cerrillo. Salvador Ramos burst into Miah’s classroom and, before her very eyes, gunned down her teachers and many of her friends. When Ramos went into an adjacent classroom, Miah could hear more gunshots and screaming. Fearing Ramos would return, Miah survived by smearing herself with the blood of her dead classmates and feigning death. The nation also learned about the last moments of Irma Garcia and Eva Mireles, the teachers who lost their lives. Garcia and Mireles desperately tried to shield their kids from the deadly hail of bullets.
Over the past two decades, many schools have developed “active shooter” protocols, whereby staff and students are trained in how to respond to such an event. According to the Department of Education, about 95% of American public schools participate in active shooter drills. However, there is growing concern that such drills do far more harm than good. During these drills, the school goes into lockdown mode. Classroom doors are locked and children are taught to take cover behind desks or tables. Some of these drills have become very realistic, involving the use of fake blood and simulated gunfire. Most of the time, teachers and students are notified of the drill beforehand. But this is not always the case. A few schools have conducted unannounced active shooter drills, prompting terrified kids to text their final goodbyes to their parents. Yet even when known in advance, these drills have left children with high levels of distress and anxiety. Simply by participating in such activities, schools are terrorizing kids with the message that active shooters are a constant and likely threat.
Yet the truth is that mass school shootings are blessedly rare. Since 1966, there have been a total of 13 mass school shootings in the United States. There are over 50 million schoolchildren across America. Over the last decade (including Uvalde) the total number of students killed by gunfire at school averages about 10 per year. Thus, the annual odds that a child will be killed in a mass shooting event at school are 10 million to one. Children are just as likely to be killed by lightening and are much more likely to perish by drowning. One researcher notes that when it comes to student safety, lifeguards are much more important than armed guards at schools.
Obviously, every school shooting represents a horrendous tragedy, plunging communities into shock, grief and anger. Just as obviously, we should take every reasonable action to thwart those disturbed individuals bent on slaughtering defenseless schoolkids. Best of all, we should take every reasonable action to prevent such attacks in the first place. The events of Uvalde will no doubt bring about extensive discussions about gun control, family breakdown, mental health and the social conditions which produce young men capable of mass murder.
However, it’s also important to take a step back and recognize the scope of school shootings. Criminologist James Alan Fox of Northeastern University says, “There is not an epidemic of mass shootings. What’s increasing and is out of control is the epidemic of fear.” True, it would be difficult to imagine a more newsworthy event than what transpired at Robb Elementary School on May 24th. But the saturation coverage threatens to distort our understanding of reality. When our society doesn’t accurately grasp the true nature of the challenges we face, we are vulnerable to making poor decisions.
This distortion of reality manifests itself in many ways. At my church last Sunday, we appropriately paused to acknowledge the terrible news of the shooting at Uvalde; we prayed for the victims, their families, and for the community. Can you guess the last time our church meaningfully recognized such an incident? Unsurprisingly, it was the death of George Floyd just over two years ago. Following Floyd’s death, there was endless media coverage centered around the theme of police brutality and systemic racism. The political left and their media allies portrayed the United States as an irredeemably racist nation. Those subjected to this narrative were misled to believe that the streets of our nation were flooded with the blood of innocent young black men cut down by white supremacist cops. Indeed, in 2021, one survey found that more than half of those with “very liberal” political views estimated that at least 1,000 unarmed black men were killed by the police each year. The actual number? 27. (We must also remember that those 27 are by no means evidence of police misconduct. As any sentient person knows, just because someone is unarmed does not mean they cannot pose a lethal threat.)
The distorted narrative crafted by the media after George Floyd’s death led to many changes. Police officers came under harsh scrutiny or even hostility. According to the National Fraternal Order of Police, in 2021, there were 346 law enforcement officers shot in the line of duty, with 63 of those officers killed. Violence against the police has further increased in 2022. The number of police shot and killed in the line of duty has increased by 20% since Floyd’s death in May of 2020. Perhaps most disturbing are the growing number of instances when police are ambushed. Yet why should this surprise us? For the last two years, Americans have been misled to believe that police are systematically hunting down young black men. False narratives have severe consequences.
The vast majority of the Democratic Party has been overtaken by movements to defund the police, eliminate cash bail and avoid prosecuting criminals. When faced with gun violence, the media and political left are quick to advocate strict gun control. Yet there is bitter irony in the fact that those voices calling the loudest for the banning of guns are the same people eager to undercut the police officers responsible for enforcing our gun laws. Additionally, the political left has supported progressive District Attorneys who refuse to prosecute criminals for illegal gun possession.
The result has been a veritable tsunami of crime crashing down upon our country. According to the FBI, there were 16,669 homicides nationwide in 2019. Yet in 2020, murders suddenly spiked to 21,570, an unprecedented rise of nearly 30%. On the Memorial Day weekend following the massacre in Uvalde, the city of Chicago suffered another bloody spate of gunfire, with 51 people shot and 9 fatalities. Somehow this relentless surge of violence never gets mentioned in church.
So by all means, let’s mourn the appalling evil which occurred in Texas last week and commit ourselves to preventing such atrocities in the future. But we truly seek to bring about justice in God’s world, let’s not forget the larger picture whereby an entire nation descends into anarchy and lawlessness.
The response to the death of innocent children should always result in lament and sadness for Americans. We should seek to find common ground ways to place additional protections around our citizens, especially children. I personally would never want to react to another school shooting by saying, “Oh well, it only happens occasionally”.
It is true we don’t talk enough in church about tragic deaths that capture the nation’s attention. Some churches don’t see it as their mission to openly address the causes of these tragedies. I’m sure there is a common question among church leaders about which tragedies they should acknowledge.
While I find common ground with some things in this post, I find several things troubling, from a causation perspective, as well as what appear from my perspective to be some pretty grossly overstated points.
I’ll address fear first. We actually agree that media often stokes fear, as a means to persuade. Let’s not be so naive though, as to assume that only happens on the side of more progressive media outlets. There is a reason gun purchases actually often increase after mass shootings; the conservative media machine stokes the fear each time that the Liberals are coming for your guns. The picture of our national reaction to mass shootings is grossly underrepresented if we avoid calling out this fear tactic from the right.
I find the correlation you’re making about 2019 and 2020 crime data to be very lacking in supporting evidence of causation. There are many factors at play when we examine the year we experienced in 2020. The rippling impacts from COVID (isolation, loss of income, loss of freedoms, mental health crisis and desperation) are all factors we’d be crazy to ignore. But here you place the blame for rising crime solely on the shoulders of Democrats? Democrats didn’t even hold control of 2 of the 3 branches of the federal government in 2020.
You said yourself that false narratives can have severe consequences. You seem to be putting forth a false narratives yourself. Is it a false narrative to say liberal media described the nation as “irredeemably racist?” That seems to be an exaggeration. Did the media say we have systemic racism? Yes. Did they say the country could not be redeemed? I must have missed that one.
I’m not sure where you’re getting the data that supports a “vast majority of the Democratic Party” wanting to defund police or not prosecute criminals. If that were the case, wouldn’t the party have fully endorsed those measures as they took control of the White House and Senate in 2020? Biden was clear there is no effort by the Democrats to defund police. Do people in some very liberal cities and districts support those measures? Sure but that by no means equates to a majority of the party.
The most important response to tragedy is to ask ourselves what are the appropriate responses. Sure we pray, but there is a time for action as well. We could still be having this mass shooting conversation decades from now, still saying they are rare from a percentage perspective. I would hope we can find common ground for politicians to decide taking action is better than talking about percentages and maintaining the status quo. The majority of Americans want to see some action but it is true there are groups on the right and left who get in the way of change. The far left wants to ban guns and the far right wants to make guns easier for everyone to carry, with no limitations.
As with most political problems, the best course is to pursue a third option. Let’s do some things to give ourselves a better chance of preventing the most dangerous from getting a gun. As long as each side continues to assume the other side is evil, nothing will get done because there is no trust. No party gets it 100% right on these tough issues, especially guns. Continuing to put the label of bad and evil on Democrats doesn’t give space to acknowledge they have ideas that will help us solve this problem. Saying “an entire nation is descending into anarchy and lawlessness” and placing that burden on only one party is not helping. It only stokes more fear and blame. Brush away the partisanship and let’s solve the problem together.
Hi Jeff,
Thanks again for reading. As I stated repeatedly in the blog, I would be open to considering any measure which would prevent mass shootings from occurring, including legislation regarding gun control. Raising age of purchase to 21 seems quite reasonable. Expanding background checks to include juvenile criminal behavior. Increased security at schools. I certainly think there is some room for common ground on this issue and perhaps such measures can be helpful. Yet the difficult truth is that some young men who carry out these attacks are still able to pass a background check and purchase weapons legally. There are sometimes just no easy answers.
You make some other, uh, interesting points. The progressive left has a virtual stranglehold on the media. There is plentiful video of liberal politicians loudly proclaiming “We’re going to take away you guns!” Or President Biden recently musing about how he’d like to ban all 9mm weapons. Yet when (the small minority) conservative media report these very public statements, you claim that they are somehow promoting fear?
I’m not sure how more evidence you’ll need to see before you acknowledge that the Black Lives Matter movement/liberal response to the death of George Floyd set off a wave off violent crime across our country. Major cities completely controlled by Democratic Party cut funding and created hostile atmosphere for police. Thousands of police retire early or resign resulting in severe understaffing. Crime spirals out of control. Many thousands are killed, shot, stabbed or beaten; quite often these victims are minorities. We witnessed the same dynamic after Ferguson, when there was no COVID around. Responsibility for this rolling disaster sits squarely on the shoulders of the Democratic Party. The only reason national Democratic Party did not push harder is that Republicans plus Joe Manchin were staunchly opposed. Sure, after watching his polls plummet, Joe made a few paltry noises about supporting the police, yet he continues to host BLM activists at the White House and Democratic Party generously funds such organizations.
You truly must have missed the last two years if you didn’t catch the perpetual “US is racist’ narrative which dominates the media. It’s really a sad joke now, a knee jerk response; anyone who opposes the Democratic agenda for any reason is loudly derided as a racist.
Finally, I must address your statement that a “third option” is the best with most political problems. This is demonstrably false, as the last 18 months have demonstrated so spectacularly. During this time, Biden and Democrats have pursued unlimited abortion…again, supported by virtually every national Democratic politician. Every Democrat in Washington fully supported spending Biden’s spending orgy. Only Joe Manchin stood in the way of an additional multitrillion dollar spending splurge. Federal Reserve (completely controlled by Democrats) unleashed wave on money printing. All these directly resulted in catastrophic inflation. No border security whatsoever. Fentanyl pouring across Southern border, causing record 107K OD deaths. Biden’s war on energy absolutely and directly accounts for $5 gas prices badly hurting American families.
The solutions to all these and many other problems is not compromising with Democratic Agenda, rather it will involve voting Democrats out of office.
Best regards,
Joel, you are correct. Actions of democrats and inaction by republicans has led to an all out war on police. I see it every single day, right here in Minnesota. The job has become exponentially more dangerous in the last two years. Do not be surprised when you need the police, seconds count, but they’re not there for multiple minutes or more. There are already too many laws currently in existence regarding guns, yet our criminal justice system along with our politicians, and supported by a media machine that does not want you to know how bad it is out there, refuse to enforce, or report on.
“Oh, but the republicans had power and didn’t do anything.” What really is your point? Most politicians we send to Washington should have R/D behind their names, and not just one or the other. If it makes you feel better to assume it’s an either or situation, then I hope you sleep well at night. Power corrupts. Israel wanted a King, but God said, “I’ll be your King, I’m all you need.” Yet those Israelites said, “No. We want our own King.” The very first King, Saul, was a dismal failure. You think it’s any different 4,000 years later?
God is what we need. Yesterday, Today, and Forever. Our country was founded on that premise, and largely saw God’s blessings for many years. Politicians went to Washington out of a sense of service. Now they go there out of a sense of entitlement.
The previous comment seemingly takes aim at finding middle-ground in society’s woes, after taking a few potshots at the right, and right leaning media of course. As if there is some sort of an evil versus good continuum, and the two parties fall somewhere along that continuum line, the left close to but not too close to extreme evil and the right tugging the other way. So, it’s ok for the right to be pulled a little towards the left, as long as the left doesn’t pull them all the way. It’s all fine.
Where but Eden did that kind of strategy take root? And people still today are ok with that approach.
Unfortunately, there are many people that feel that way, to their own and society’s detriment.
The modern left is not just opposed to goodness by every measure, they are bathing in evil.
Abortion – It’s a woman’s body – everyone else mind your own business. And, since it’s her choice if the worthless clump of cells sees the light of day or not, then let’s also allow her to kill a baby minutes, hours, or even weeks after birth.
Gayness – This needs to be taught to every child everywhere. You get to pick what kind of perverted image of yourself you feel like, and we’ll ostracize anyone who dares question it. Drag queen story hour for Kindergartners everywhere. Drag shows for field trips. Gender reassignment on demand. Hidden closets in schools so you can change into your preferred gender once you get to school, you know, so your parents don’t find out. Want an abortion pill? Get ’em free from the school nurse. Need a Tylenol? Sorry. Can’t dish out medication here.
First Amendment? – Sorry, the Constitution is fluid. You can say anything you like that we agree with. Express a contrary opinion? Cancelled. The internet didn’t come along for another 200 years, but we’re going to use the 1st Amendment to our advantage to apply it in areas we want to , and ban things in areas we don’t like.
Second Amendment? – Nope. That was written for dudes with muskets. Unlike the second amendment, this one totally only applies to single shot muskets, and we get to write all sorts of restrictions even on that.
Fourth Amendment? – Judges shouldn’t allow the police to enter a dwelling without knocking. Too dangerous.
Fifth Amendment? – You cops are finding way too many guns on street thugs with this stop-and-frisk thing. We’re not going to allow that anymore, because it sure seems like you find an awful lot of those guns in minority areas.
Speaking of racism – Let’s perpetuate the lie that White’s are inherently racist, and blacks are owed reparations for slavery. We’re not going to mention that slavery is much more of a problem today than ever before in history, because that doesn’t fit our narrative. If you parents don’t want us teaching your kids how evil they are, we’ll just lie and say we’re not, and sic the DOJ on you if you dare question us.
Taxes – “There went out a decree from Ceasar Augustus that ALL the world should be taxed.” The amount of taxes Americans pay today is utterly immoral. With all too many liberals saying, “I’m happy to pay them.” I mean if the bureaucrats in Washington say they need more money, who am I to question them?
Arts/Entertainment – Christina Aguilera dressed up with a man’s penis on the outside of her get up, and pranced around in front of children stroking it as if she was pleasuring herself. The media and the leftist elitists – applause.
Prayer – Kick this God of yours out of public schools and meetings. He has no place here. Oh, you satanists, you’re welcome to have school clubs, just not those Christians. Muslim? Oh, we’ll install foot washing stations in the schools for your ritual (religious). You can have prayer matts, and be excused to pray towards Mecca whenever. You want Halal meat? No problem. (Halal meat is slaughtered by muslim butchers ritually, by speaking a blessing for adherents of the Koran, and a curse to non-muslims).
Crime – Let’s see. Where to start? Some like to point at Blue cities as failures and red cities as success stories, but again, it’s not some linear line we use to measure things. Red states and cities can and do have large crime problems, but worse yet, all locales have the dangers of deferred payment on lax criminal justice. Volumes wouldn’t be enough space to fill with stories about judges dismissing violent charges and sticking with the lesser “Disorderly Conduct” and a slap on the wrist.
Immigration – Same thing. Most of us believe that a nation is defined by well protected borders. Those largely on the left think that borders are meaningless, and immigration is a relic of the past. You come here, and we’ll take care of you. We have plenty of blue collar suckers that will foot the bill, and all we need to do is say the right thing at election time, and they’ll keep voting for us.
Voting – Give me a break. I don’t need to sound like a conspiracy person to say that our elections were hijacked years ago. The evidence is too overwhelming, but alas, the media and those in power simply need to tell his that there’s no proof, and we are expected to move on with life. When you have more votes than voters in a district, how do you account for that? When you have enough under 18 year olds, and verifiably dead folks appear on the voter record to swing an election one way or another, isn’t that a problem?
How about global governance? the Bible tells us what’s coming on that front, and here we are, with elite leftists and right wingers in lock-step working towards just that. They don’t even disguise it anymore. The great reset. Build Back Better. “You will own nothing and like it, by 2030.” Social Credit scores. Everything about you will be embedded on a chip and become part of your body – no exceptions. The merging with AI and humanity. The mandatory injections meant to rid the world of scary Covid being made up of mRNA, which quite literally changes your DNA.
C’mon. You’d rather find a third option? Some sort of compromise with these evil people?
If I’m 18 and have committed no crime, who are you to say I can’t own a legal item that the law of the land guarantees me I can own?
There are already background checks in place. There is no loophole. That’s a lie.
OH – you want Universal Background checks. So a national registry of who owns what gun and where. That’s what Universal Background checks mean. I wonder why they need to know who has a gun and where? Right now, if I want to give my kid a gun. As long as he’s not a prohibited person, no problem – “Here you go, son.” Universal background checks mean that there would have to be a background check filed on my son and I having that gift exchange. Who is involved? Where do they live? What gun? That my friend just became a gun registry.
Red flag laws. Anyone can make a claim that another person shouldn’t possess a gun because, “I think they’re dangerous.” Gun goes away, no chance to defend. Later, maybe you can prove yourself worthy and get it back? Not likely. Disgruntled spouses in a bitter divorce. Neighbors that simply don’t like you. The list goes on.
There’s so much more, and I don’t know of any “Right wing” news sources. Turn off the TV. Don’t watch the local news. Certainly don’t watch the national news. Scour the internet for reliable, truthful sources for your news. You’ll be much better off.
Oh, and here’s Biden and a bunch of democrats telling us that defunding the police really is a goal.
https://rumble.com/vk6xgp-biden-supports-radical-defund-police-movement-then-lies-about-it.html
There’s too much to address across the two responses above, so I will just add a few more comments.
First of all, as an independent, the third option is where I will continue to land on many issues. I do agree the Democrats go too far on issues, as do the Republicans.
I am against abortion but believe there need to be carve outs when the mother’s life is in danger, in the case of rape or incest, and I also believe when a fetus is not viable, the woman should have the right to make the choice to end the pregnancy. Some red states are pushing laws with no carve outs, which I believe is too far.
We’ve spent time on guns but I do need to respond to one point Dave made, about red flag laws. A red flag law is not enforced without a hearing so just reporting someone does not immediately mean guns are withheld. One other point on guns I would hope we agree on is, arming teachers is not the answer.
Those two issues alone are good examples of being reactionary to what one party fears the other is doing, so they react by going too far in the other direction. Joel said in his original post that when we react too quickly, we don’t make sound decisions. I believe Ohio already passed a bill to arm teachers. That will likely prove to be a poor decision, made in haste.
LGBTQ is a complex issue, on which I don’t have a fully fleshed out opinion to state here. What I will say is, I worry we have a brewing assault on people in that community and that’s just wrong. We have an arena of conservative (non-denominational) churches making awful statements about executing people in that community, including from a Congressional GOP candidate in SC who said that on primary day, earlier this week. Thankfully, he lost. It’s a small segment of the conservative movement but I fear the war on LGBTQ people is going to grow in the coming years, as hate grows more intense. Who knows what the 31 white supremacists had planned from their U-haul, at the pride rally in Idaho.
Contrary to what Dave thinks, I don’t believe we can classify a whole political party, made up of real people, as evil. Are you suggesting a person can’t be a Democrat (or an independent like me) and also be a Christian? I don’t believe Christian = Republican. Rather than classifying people, have some conversations. I am guessing you’ll find some very reasonable Democrats, who want many of the same things you do. We all get caught up in generalizing entire groups of people, based on the depictions of them we hear in whatever media we consume.
There are other things I could address (voting and immigration) but I will close by coming back to the third option. I am a staunch supporter of our democratic republic. I hear some real “blow it all up” sentiment in what Dave is saying. Even with its many flaws, I will take our current form of government over any one-party, authoritarian government. Don’t underestimate ultimate power’s ability to corrupt. You don’t like the direction we’re headed in now, so you have the ability to vote in someone else.
Imagine being in Russia right now. They’ve been thrust into a war many did not want and they were lied to by government run media about the reason to go into battle. It’s the sons of the people who are dying and it’s the families who are going to suffer from the sanctions imposed by the rest of the world. Putin and the Oligarchs are minimally affected, financially or physically. What is the recourse of the people? They have no means to vote Putin out. Their only hope in the short term is someone taking him out.
I choose to continue being hopeful that we will find ways to address the issues in America. One example is the apparent, bipartisan agreement on gun legislation. Will it completely solve gun violence? No. Will it help? I think so. That is a third option. Nobody got everything they wanted but a compromise will hopefully be achieved and we will move closer to what I hope we all want.
Wow! There are certainly a lot of passionate arguments and opinions happening on this blog post! Nothing wrong with that. Thankful for the free speech we have in this nation.
I will not attempt to rehash political issues here. But as a Jesus -follower, I just want to add a few points that occurred to me in view of the Sermon on the Mount which we are studying in church:
Jesus’ powerful words are as applicable in our world today as they were at the time they were preached.
One of his messages is that of not judging others. We are to view others as Imago Dei, the very image-bearers of God. How would things change if we viewed the woman considering abortion as a vulnerable woman in a difficulty situation that is economically unfeasible rather than a “baby killer” welfare mom using abortion as a form of birth control? Or viewing BLM protesters as marginalized people sincerely wanting change for a society that they feel has oppressed them? Or the Muslim immigrant as a person escaping unspeakable persecution from their homeland and wanting to cling to familiar tenants of their faith including how animals may be butchered and processed (which does not include speaking a curse for non-Muslims).
We are called to pray for our enemies which include politicians we oppose or parties we do not agree with. Labeling an entire group as “evil” seems like a judgement that has more to do with division and is less about individual people who have come to different conclusions about the issues we face in this world.
How do our actions bear this out? Not just speaking out about our beliefs or casting a ballot in one direction or the other but real life Jesus with skin on loving our neighbor? If you are passionate about ending abortion: what are you doing to help that mom with an unplanned pregnancy get prenatal care or economic assistance for her to successfully raise a child?
In the past year, Jeff and I have volunteered through Arrive ministries, a Christian organization helping with refugee re-settlement and immigrant assistance. We have developed a relationship with an Afghan family and in the process have learned a lot about Muslim culture and the immigrant experience. This personal relationship with those we don’t understand is a great first step in understanding our differences.
Compassion and mercy for “the other” and active service to those in need is a basic tenant of our Christian faith. Let’s spend less time in debate and more time in service!