The More Important Question

Disclaimer: This is not a post about my thoughts on gun control. Without a doubt I have thoughts and opinions, but that’s not my aim or goal here. I actually believe “gun control” is creating a smoke screen in front of an even bigger issue. That’s the conversation I want to have.

In the wake of another school shooting – the worst in several years – the issue of gun control has not only once again come up, but seems to be taking over. Students are taking to the streets, demanding that the government do something that will prevent another one of their peers from arming himself, walking onto a campus, and firing at will. The “problem” that the louder masses seem to keep pointing to is “gun control”. What this means is, the question or issue that’s being elevated above all others is HOW. How did this student go about carrying out what he did? 

Some things to consider:

After Stephen Paddock (a middle-aged man, known to struggle with anxiety & depression) opened fire on a crowded concert last year in Las Vegas, the question that was being asked was HOW. How - or by what manner – did this man carry out his plot to randomly execute innocent people? With guns.

In April 2007, Seung Hui Cho, (known to have a history of mental illness) came onto the Virginia Tech campus where he was a senior - close to graduating from college - and opened fire on his classmates and teachers. The biggest question asked in the aftermath was HOW. How did he arm himself like this? How did someone like this get all these guns?

After Adam Lanza (a 20-year old mentally ill man) walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School and began shooting innocent children and teachers, the question that dominated the news and the media was HOW. How did he get access to these guns?

The question that is continually shoved to the forefront in these instances is HOW.

It’s not really a question, so much, as it is the overt point being made.

When guns are involved, that’s always the question, the focus, and the point.

I would submit to you that this is causing the more important question to be ignored and left unanswered. I believe in these instances, and those like them, the more important question that should be getting our collective attention is WHY.

WHY?

When Timothy McVeigh detonated a van filled with explosives in front of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 150+ innocent people, the question that we demanded be answered was WHY. Why would he kill all these innocent people?

When terrorist flew airplanes into the World Trade Center & the Pentagon - even though this was the first incident of this magnitude involving a hijacking - the question that everyone still had burning in the consciences was WHY.

When suicide bombers walk into crowded plazas, taking their own lives while taking the lives of others with them, the question we can’t get out of our brains is why. Even though we already know the answer - They believe that their quickest way to “heaven” is by killing the infidel - taking the life of anyone who’s not a Muslim - we still want to know: Why would anyone do this? WHY?

Why? It’s the question that we as humans are most prone to want answered.

Except with guns. When guns are involved, the focus seems to always move to HOW. Why is that?

Again, this is the point where the debate usually sets off over gun control. I don’t care to walk down that path in this post. For one, we seem to be going in circles over some of what surrounds that conversation anyways, but I also believe (as I’ve already stated) that it’s prohibiting and distracting America from the larger conversation and question of WHY. So let me pose the question even more directly:

WHY do we continue to have men - almost all of whom are found to suffer from some degree of mental illness - walk into schools, theaters, and churches and begin to open fire on innocent people? What is causing this? Are there contributing factors involved? Is there a pattern or common denominator? WHY does this keep happening?

Parkland. Las Vegas. Orlando. Sandy Hook. Aurora. Littleton. WHY?

IGNORING MENTAL ILLNESS

One reason is that we have a mental illness issue in America. What I mean by that is a couple of things. First off, we don’t have nearly enough professionals willing to weigh into the deep waters with those who suffer from mental illness. And many of the ones we do have very readily just throw medication at the problems - treat the HOW - rather than digging to the root of the cause - the WHY. The number of kids today who are quickly diagnosed with ADHD or OCD or anger issues is astronomical. The number of them who are diagnosed and almost immediately medicated is also astronomical. Is anyone asking WHY?

Along with that, there still somehow continues to be a stigma surrounding mental illness that causes most of us to be very reluctant to allow anyone to know that we suffer from things like anxiety or depression. [I just wrote a post about that HERE.] This has to stop. 

IGNORING RED FLAGS

The majority of the men who perpetrate these crimes are found to not only suffer from some degree of mental illness, but we also learn that somewhere along the way “so & so saw red flags, but did nothing about them.” The FBI essentially had their work done for them with Nikolas Cruz, and they still ignored it. They were warned about his behavior and his threats. They’ve already admitted they dropped the ball. There’s no room for dropping the ball anymore. If there’s a red flag at the beach, you go into the water at your own risk. If there’s a red flag that someone might be dangerous to the population at large, more than one life is usually at stake.

IGNORING THINGS THAT MAKE US UNCOMFORTABLE OR REQUIRE US TO CHANGE

Do you know why there isn’t a rally or protest going on full of teenage white guys, demanding that video games putting people into the role of first-person-murderer be taken off the shelf? Because that would demand that they stop playing those games. 

Do you know why there aren’t parents demanding that happen? Because many parents have become too lazy to pay attention to the games their sons are playing. They don’t check their text messages. They don’t check their computers. They have no idea what their 15 or 16 year-old son is looking at, watching, being influenced by, listening to, or following and chasing after. In order to do that, it would require a lot of work. It might require a whole different lifestyle. It might demand that your kid look and act different from all his “friends”. These are uncomfortable conversations. These things might requires us to change rather than to blame.

On another note, almost every single person who commits these crimes has at some point expressed feelings of being an outcast, outsider, or reject. On the one hand, we can’t control other people’s feelings. On the other hand, we can live a life of intentionality to show compassion, to listen, and to acknowledge those who are different than us. Yes, it requires work on our part. It demands that we surface out of our little bubble that we can all very easily become trapped in of the world revolving around us. It’s actually mind-blowing that there are still kids being bullied and ostracized today, in this world of NO BULLYING. I guess that goes to show you how effectively regulating something can be. There’s a bigger problem going on.

IGNORING THINGS WE CAN CONTROL, BLAMING THINGS WE CAN’T

As human beings, we always want someone or something to blame. 

We would much rather be angry and hostile than broken and grieving.

We would much rather be able to point and place all the blame on something that is a little bit outside our circle than acknowledge that the beast might have been hiding in our own closet.

It’s perplexing to me that I have not seen one person on TV or in an interview about last week’s shooting in Parkland, Florida, angrily or harshly or with fire in their eyes saying something like, “I hope that this kid spends the rest of his life rotting in jail for what he did!” Maybe I missed it, but I haven’t heard anyone attached to this incident say anything about him, period. Just guns. All the blame has been on guns.

I actually expect you at this point to call me out: Wait a minute, Brian. You said this wasn’t about gun control. You’re right. And that’s my point. Ultimately, it’s not. It’s about something deeper and bigger and scarier.

I remember about 10-15 years ago, when we were in the height of people screaming about how horrible SUV’s were for the environment - they suck so much gas - they take up so much room - blah blah blah - that I would repeatedly hear on the news things like this:" A woman and her child were run down by an SUV last night in a crosswalk.” Wait. What? No, actually they were run down by a middle-aged, irresponsible drunk man. He was driving an SUV. He could have been driving a Corvette. Or a Prius. The issue wasn’t a SUV. It was drunk drivers. 

There is something bigger and more important going on here than guns. I’m not saying we need to ignore the HOW, but we’ve got to begin answering the WHY. 

What did the Prohibition do? It heightened alcoholism. It massively heightened crime.

Drugs are illegal in most states in this country. People still find them, buy them, and abuse them.

My friend would steal his dad’s Playboy magazines and hide them under his mattress. Boys today don’t know what Playboy is, but they know what porn is. It’s all over the internet. If they want to find it bad enough, they will. I would love (and I pray) for the evil smut to be erased from the face of this earth! Go ahead and ban it. That’s fine with me. But I’m telling you, men will find it. 

WHY?

The heart is deceitful above all things. The heart is sinful and set against God. Only through Jesus Christ - through the power of His Spirit and His Word and through the victory that He’s given us over sin and death - will we find answers. 

It begins with the problem of SIN. It’s only solved through the answer of JESUS.

I encourage you to ask WHY. I’m praying that this conversation somehow turns to WHY.

Please join me in praying for the community, families, friends, classmates, and teachers of the victims in Parkland, Florida.