Once more Aspergers is in the news and not in a positive way. I am afraid that it may backfire on all of us, especially young males. I wish I knew what the answer was.
I wonder, was this troubled young man a member of one of our forums, either AC or another? Is there something any of us could have said that would have stopped him? Are there others right now who might be thinking similar thoughts? If so, what can we do? Because I believe we are better equipped to reach out to each other than the NT world.
We were talking about this at Bible group last night. It has got several members way upset. I am not sure I understand why. Maybe it's the Aspy part of me that says, look, the odds of that happening again are probably very remote. On the other hand, they have realized that our schools are not very secure. That anyone anytime can walk right in. That it seems to be business as usual, as if this had never happened.
A couple of people said last night that the reason this happened is because God has been taken out of the schools. That unless we require students to recite a prayer (whose prayer?) or observe a moment of silence we are going to see more incidents of this kind. It was all I could do to keep my mouth shut.
You want to talk about prayer in school? Well, I went to a school that prayed and I went to a school that did not pray and as far as I am concerned there was no difference between them in the way that I was treated. Reciting holy words did not make those students kinder, more concerned for others. It was just another hoop to be jumped through. Hey, I got news for you, just because this hasn't happened yet at a Christian school, does not mean that it won't. And then what?
I know someone, a retired police officer, who does not attend church and does not have any use for organized religion (he says it's just a bunch of hypocrites) yet he too thinks that society went to hell in a handbasket when public school prayer was outlawed. I asked him, why do you think this is a good thing to make little kids do when you yourself do not pray or go to church. He said, "social control." It's a way of unifying people and making them conform. Has nothing whatsoever with faith or belief or even whether there is a God. Hitler understood that very well. He too agreed that a people needed something to unite them, something bigger than themselves.
From my experience in the praying school I can tell you that there were plenty of kids who outwardly conformed, they said the words, but behind the teacher's back, they snickered. Yet the pro-school prayer crowd seems to be oblivious to that fact. They don't realize that they are actually working to cheapen something they hold very precious. And that in focusing on restoring prayer in schools they are taking the easy way out. That once they achieve their goal their responsibility is over. It's a simplistic answer to a very complex problem and it will not work.
Frankly I don't think we are ever going to know the whole story behind what motivated this man to do what he did. And while I certainly do not condone mowing down elementary students, the truth is, as we've said so many times, is that "children are cruel." No one wants to face the fact that maybe some of these kids might not have been so innocent. Kids DO tease. They DO mock. Did some of those students go by his house every day and call names? It happens. We here on the forum know that. We don't have our heads in the sands. Could it be that this might have been the trigger? If so, I can guarantee that we will never hear about it.
When the church wanted to hold Bible camp in my yard and a couple of the women went around passing out flyers, they were told by the kids, "Oh, yes, we know where that is, that is Cat Lady's yard." Now, Cat Lady is pretty mild considering some of the names I have been called, but the point is, as far as those kids AND THEIR PARENTS were concerned, I DID NOT HAVE A NAME. And I bet that neither one of the women bothered to correct them and say, "She has a name. It is ____." People, we can't go on like that if we are really serious about ending school violence.
And if we are going to talk about prayer, then ultimately the responsibility for what happened belongs to God. He allowed it to happen. He allowed this man to be born with Aspergers and possibly other mental issues. He allowed him to steal the guns and go to the school and pull the trigger while He, the Lord of the universe, the caring one, sat on His throne and turned His head. Please do not give me any BS about free will here. If God exists, he could have stopped it. He chose not to. And that makes him as much a monster as the man who pulled the trigger.
I wonder, was this troubled young man a member of one of our forums, either AC or another? Is there something any of us could have said that would have stopped him? Are there others right now who might be thinking similar thoughts? If so, what can we do? Because I believe we are better equipped to reach out to each other than the NT world.
We were talking about this at Bible group last night. It has got several members way upset. I am not sure I understand why. Maybe it's the Aspy part of me that says, look, the odds of that happening again are probably very remote. On the other hand, they have realized that our schools are not very secure. That anyone anytime can walk right in. That it seems to be business as usual, as if this had never happened.
A couple of people said last night that the reason this happened is because God has been taken out of the schools. That unless we require students to recite a prayer (whose prayer?) or observe a moment of silence we are going to see more incidents of this kind. It was all I could do to keep my mouth shut.
You want to talk about prayer in school? Well, I went to a school that prayed and I went to a school that did not pray and as far as I am concerned there was no difference between them in the way that I was treated. Reciting holy words did not make those students kinder, more concerned for others. It was just another hoop to be jumped through. Hey, I got news for you, just because this hasn't happened yet at a Christian school, does not mean that it won't. And then what?
I know someone, a retired police officer, who does not attend church and does not have any use for organized religion (he says it's just a bunch of hypocrites) yet he too thinks that society went to hell in a handbasket when public school prayer was outlawed. I asked him, why do you think this is a good thing to make little kids do when you yourself do not pray or go to church. He said, "social control." It's a way of unifying people and making them conform. Has nothing whatsoever with faith or belief or even whether there is a God. Hitler understood that very well. He too agreed that a people needed something to unite them, something bigger than themselves.
From my experience in the praying school I can tell you that there were plenty of kids who outwardly conformed, they said the words, but behind the teacher's back, they snickered. Yet the pro-school prayer crowd seems to be oblivious to that fact. They don't realize that they are actually working to cheapen something they hold very precious. And that in focusing on restoring prayer in schools they are taking the easy way out. That once they achieve their goal their responsibility is over. It's a simplistic answer to a very complex problem and it will not work.
Frankly I don't think we are ever going to know the whole story behind what motivated this man to do what he did. And while I certainly do not condone mowing down elementary students, the truth is, as we've said so many times, is that "children are cruel." No one wants to face the fact that maybe some of these kids might not have been so innocent. Kids DO tease. They DO mock. Did some of those students go by his house every day and call names? It happens. We here on the forum know that. We don't have our heads in the sands. Could it be that this might have been the trigger? If so, I can guarantee that we will never hear about it.
When the church wanted to hold Bible camp in my yard and a couple of the women went around passing out flyers, they were told by the kids, "Oh, yes, we know where that is, that is Cat Lady's yard." Now, Cat Lady is pretty mild considering some of the names I have been called, but the point is, as far as those kids AND THEIR PARENTS were concerned, I DID NOT HAVE A NAME. And I bet that neither one of the women bothered to correct them and say, "She has a name. It is ____." People, we can't go on like that if we are really serious about ending school violence.
And if we are going to talk about prayer, then ultimately the responsibility for what happened belongs to God. He allowed it to happen. He allowed this man to be born with Aspergers and possibly other mental issues. He allowed him to steal the guns and go to the school and pull the trigger while He, the Lord of the universe, the caring one, sat on His throne and turned His head. Please do not give me any BS about free will here. If God exists, he could have stopped it. He chose not to. And that makes him as much a monster as the man who pulled the trigger.
