Control: Guns? Media? Ourselves?

In light of the tragedy Sandy Hook Elementary School, it has brought the gun control debate back to the forefront of everyone including the ladies of Real. Life.Women. Talk. One common theme in our discussions is how the society here in the United States has changed so dramatically in our lifetime. As soon as this tragic event happened the knee jerk reaction was "gun control"! Now please do not get me wrong, I'm all for gun control but I'm a country girl born and raised in the South so, I'm not for banning guns. The fact of the matter is that guns have been around in this country since the freaking musket in the 1700's. These mass shootings have become a problem over the past 20 years. Therefore, in my opinion the question should be, "Why in the last 20 years?" "What has changed in the last 20 years?" The answer is easy: CULTURE AND SOCIETY!!!!

The United States is a country that has created a culture that glorifies violence. I'm not saying we look for it but we have become somewhat desensitized to it. At anytime of the day or night you can find a television program or movie with violence. The video game industry is booming with people going nuts over games like Call of Duty. In addition to glorifying violence, we also have a culture that loves to point the finger at other people for everything that goes wrong in their lives. Yes, that is correct, we have lost "personal accountability" in this great country we live in. When I grew up you were rewarded for what you did and not rewarded if you chose to do nothing. These days you have youth athletics that give everyone a trophy for just showing up regardless of how well they play. Some of these leagues do not even keep score. What exactly is this teaching a whole generation? It is teaching them that just showing up is enough. As adults, we know for a fact that is not true. So why is it alright to teach it to the children? When do we as adults break the bad news to them that you actually have to do more than show up in life to be successful?

My last point may not go over well with many of you but at this point I really don't care. This country has made a point to take God out of schools. There has been more work done to take God out of the schools in this country than there has been to make sure the students are well educated. Yet as soon as a tragedy like this one happens one of the first things people want to know is "How could God let this happen?" Well, I have the answer to that question so please pass it on if you don't mind. First of all, those of us that believe in God know that there is a God (GOOD) and that there is a devil (EVIL). With all the effort that has been put in to taking God out of the school system: no prayers, no pledge of allegiance and no mention of God at all. Why would there be any surprise when the devil shows up using a mentally ill person as his vessel? So to answer the question, how could God do this? I'm sorry but God didn't have anything to do with this.