Why does this keep happening?

In the past weeks, our nation has seen another series of horrible shootings. We ask: Why does this keep happening?

The news media gives us the same worn out responses. There are either too many–or too few guns. Or it’s the racist rhetoric of our time, the violent video games or the evil of white supremacy. Then, the calls to change gun laws, to quash racist talk, to prohibit gratuitous violence in all forms get repeated. Yet, any attempts in these directions have not made a dent in the number of shootings. Quite the opposite, they have increased.

Doesn’t that sound like we are trying to treat just the symptoms of an illness without knowing exactly what it is? Common solutions offered may reduce some of the pain, but the source of what’s wrong remains untreated.

It’s time for a differential diagnosis!

Criminologist Jillian Peterson and Sociologist James Densley have studied every mass-shooter since 1966. They discovered that most of them have four things in common.

• They suffered early childhood trauma and exposure to violence
• They seek validation in extreme communities
• They openly admire the atrocities of earlier shooters
• Nearly all are longtime loners with an identifiable “crisis point” like getting fired or expelled from school.

Also, they all are men! The young men who appear on CNN’s list of the “27 Deadliest Mass Shootings in US History” have something else in common: almost all of them grew up without fathers! Thankfully, not all young men with those experiences become mass-shooters, but that doesn’t mean they are doing well either.

These insights shed light on what is wrong in our culture and society, but to focus on these data and seek a remedy is considered “politically incorrect.” Yet, until we acknowledge the root of our society’s illness, we will continue to suffer the fruit of it. Our young people are taught that they are the product of Darwinian evolution, rather than created in the image of a loving Creator. Lost is the fact that God made them with a purpose in mind and meaninglessness is the result.

God created the universe in an orderly fashion, according to his own principles. If we are wise, we discover this order and live within its framework. When a person or nation lives within the framework of Creator’s order, they tend to flourish. When we rebel against it we experience brokenness and disintegration.

Although government policies may be helpful, they are incapable of fixing rotten roots.

The people of God must step up! As recipients of the gift of salvation offered through Jesus Christ, we are set free to forgive and love others. We can share this truth with others and in winsome ways invite them to stay within the boundaries of God’s good created order that brings life!