Reaping what we've tragically sown....

As this past week ended, the news was dominated by the latest school shooting, this one in Aurora, Colorado. Of course, this was followed with the inevitable questions "Why?" and the inevitable agenda mongers demanding stronger gun control, etc etc.

Well, I've formed my own little theory as to why this stuff is happening and with more and more frequency. To no one's surprise who knows me, I don't think the availability of guns and ammunition has one thing to do with this. 

Why not? Because "back in olden days," you know; the Wild West, the early 20th century back when firearms and ammunition and even explosives were available through any local dry goods or hardware store or could even be mail ordered in a Monkey Wards catalog regardless of age, this kind of crap wasn't happening, nor was it widespread or frequent.

So, what's changed? Here comes my theory. You may want to be sitting down for this.

I'm beginning to believe that since we as a culture/society:

• Don't teach kids the 10 Commandments (don't steal, covet, kill, etc), and
• We do teach kids that ethics are situational and all depend on an individual's values, point of view or cause, and
• Teach them that things like morals, family values, self-control, manners and the like are outdated and "things of the past," and
• Hold them to such paper mache' standards as "everyone gets a trophy" that make them think they are great at something even when they suck at it because, God forbid, we'd hurt their precious little feelings with honesty that could motivate them to truly improve because the other kid/team actually did outperform them, and
• Allow their coaches to teach their players that "winning isn't everything, it's the ONLY thing," and if that means injuring another player to win a game, then so be it, and
• Teach kids there are no real, significant consequences to what they do and say and that whatever they've tried hard at but that wasn't immediately immensely successful is the fault of something else - some stupid syndrome or condition and if that isn't it then their lack of success must be the result of that evil capitalism, discrimination or some other bogeyman. (Hence, this is why they think they can major in subjects like French Literature or prehistoric lesbian basketweaving and yet expect to not only find a job but also to exceed their parents' income right out of school.)
• And when we tell kids that the world should approach them on their level in ways they appreciate in whatever way they like doing things and therefore the world revolves around them, and
• We fail to teach them that they're not always in charge, the world doesn't always revolve around them alone and that their violent temper tantrums are not ok, excusable or the fault of anyone else and that the appropriate response to a perceived injustice is not a gun, a bomb or some other violent act, and....

Well, then this is what we get - kids that walk into their school with the intent of mass murder and their own suicide and idiots who've grown up in this watered-down world and then when life gets too rough walk into movie theaters, shopping malls or whatever the gathering of strangers with the same intent. Banning guns, knives, propane gas grills, fertilizers, Ryder rental trucks or automobiles will not stem this tragic tide one damned bit. And it's not the inanimate object's fault, it isn't the fault of some psychobabble syndrome or another and it's not the lack of yet another law that someone will choose to disregard in their suicidal rampage. 

Rather, it's our fault.  Our society/culture's refusal to teach, acknowledge and reinforce good old-fashioned moral values is ultimately what's to blame here. And only a return to teaching and reinforcing everybody good old fashioned morals like the value of human life, self-control and the like will stem this tide. And, until we do that, this increasingly predatory generation's increasingly violent inability to deal with real life will just continue to be more frequently and tragically commonplace.