Faith and Fear Take Center Stage in Wake of Mass Shootings

In the wake of the Covenant School shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, Old National Bank shooting in Louisville, Kentucky, and the birthday party shooting in Dadeville, Alabama, Americans are again asking the question: “What can be done to stop this from happening?”

A symptom of the political climate today is to immediately blame the other side for what occurred instead of the issue at hand.

This was pushed to the forefront of the Covenant School shooting as Sen. Tom Cotton, (R.-AR), jumped on the comments of White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre who attacked congressional Republicans as the ones responsible for the shooting:

“What I will say to Republicans in Congress is: ‘What are you going to say to these parents? What are you going to say to these family members?’ … We cannot sit around to allow this anymore,” Jean-Pierre claimed.

The respective figureheads of each political party, former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, each gave their take on the recent shootings and what should be done.

According to CNN, “President Joe Biden said he is praying for the victims’ families in Dadeville and reiterated his call Sunday for Congress to reach an agreement on gun control legislation.

“What has our nation come to when children cannot attend a birthday party without fear? When parents have to worry every time their kids walk out the door to school, to the movie theater, or to the park?” Biden said.

The Biden administration has been pushing for stricter gun control laws, including an “assault weapons” ban that would take the outline of the 1994 ban, but with further reaching restrictions.

Biden believes that the issue is with the firearms themselves and that the 2nd Amendment is limited, according to his website.

Former President Donald Trump believes it is a far deeper issue.

While addressing the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action’s candidate forum on Friday, Apr. 14, Trump declared that it is not the gun that is the issue: it is the person using the gun to commit horrific crimes.

“This is not a gun problem, this is a mental health problem, this is a social problem, this is a cultural problem, this is a spiritual problem,” Trump says.

Trump does not appear to believe that changing the laws will have much effect on the number of shootings or guns used to commit crimes, because the people committing the crimes do not follow the laws in place already.

“The politically incorrect truth that no one on the left wants to admit is that violent crime is rarely committed by legal gun owners; it is committed by a brutal class of hardened repeat criminals,” Trump continued.

If one takes an honest, and as unbiased as can be managed, view of the two differing opinions, which one has the most likely outcome to bear fruit and make a positive impact on society?

The 2nd Amendment’s design was to ensure an armed populace for protection against tyrannical governments or leaders who would look to encroach upon the freedoms of the people. Armed citizens do not suffer the fate as those who have historically been unarmed, such as the Germans (Jews) under Hitler, Russians under Stalin, Chinese under Mao and led to the events Armenian Genocide, among many others.

So where does faith and morality come into play?

Few outside of Christian circles bring up the role that demonic oppression comes into play when crimes are committed. Breaking the morality naturally inherent in Judeo-Christian values, upon which America was founded, is the goal for Satan and his forces.

For years Satan has worked to desensitize people to acts of violence through television, movies and video games. And while the initial shock to these events is immense, it quickly wears off in society today as the 24-hour news cycle focuses on the next topic to grab people’s attention.

Violence begins in the heart. As Cain allowed anger and jealousy to take hold of his heart, it became a resentment toward his brother Abel and his offerings to God that grew so strong he allowed his feelings to control his actions and murder Abel.

Most, if not all, actions can be traced back to a heart issue. This is why it is so important for Americans to repent and turn back from the immoral society the country has become.

The Bible says in 1 Samuel 16:7: “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees. For man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.'”

That is how important the heart and its guidance is to the Lord. It saw Saul removed as king, and the Davidic line established. It saw Jesus die for all of humanity, even though He was blameless.

It can see America renewed and biblical morality taught among the citizenry again. For that to happen, there must be repentance on a national scale that sees leadership turn back from their false gods and their high places, and lift the name of the Lord Most High once again. {eoa}

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James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.