Columnists and commentators solemnly lament what can happen when young people are allowed to view violence, be ridiculed and ostracized, learn German, play video games, and have guns at their disposal. Studies are published containing the supposed "warning signs" of disruptive behavior that signal murderous tendencies. Parents are exhorted to "be aware" of what their children are thinking and what they are "getting into." Even our President was compelled to implore our children to "use words and not guns" to express themselves. Finally an "expert" with a Ph.D. informs us that "it is time to declare war—on guns" since guns are obviously a greater threat to health than cancer or AIDS.

It is the usual fare that we have all become used to by now—after Springfield, after Jonesboro, after Edinboro, after Padukah, Pearl, Bethel, Moses Lake, etc., etc. Violence and mayhem in public schools has become a sad fact of life. Over the last seven years, there have been no less than 15 shooting incidents in public schools across the country. The figures for all these incidents combined come to 39 students and teachers killed and 83 wounded.

The headlines we see reveal that no one seems to have a clue as to why this might be happening. A moment’s reflection, however, might raise another question, namely, "Why should we be surprised that this is happening?" When one considers what is being taught in the government schools across our land, one begins to wonder why we are shocked that violence regularly erupts there.

—Our children are taught that human beings are nothing more than blobs of protoplasm, the result of a grand cosmic accident. So why are we shocked when they laugh at cruelty and suffering?

—Our children are taught that there is no right or wrong (no absolutes). So why are we appalled that they care nothing for truth or morality?

—Our children are told to express their rage and not hold it in. Why are we surprised when they get a gun and do what we have told them to do?

—Our children are taught to respect the lives of animals but that it is all right to kill a baby in the womb. Why do we then shake our heads in astonishment when they dispose of their newborns in dumpsters?

One can only assume that we think our children will not take our instruction seriously; that those who listen to this claptrap day by day will be as indifferent to it as we are who allow it to be taught. Now we find ourselves facing the stark reality that there are some kids to actually believe this stuff!

One is reminded of C. S. Lewis’ observation:

such is the tragi-comedy of our situation—we continue to clamour for those very qualities we are rendering impossible. You can hardly open a periodical without coming across the statement that what our civilization needs is more ‘drive,’ or dynamism, or self-sacrifice, or ‘creativity.’ In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful. (The Abolition of Man, p. 35)

Precisely so. And declaring a "war on guns" because of this tragedy is no more a solution to our dilemma than declaring a "war on marshmallows" because some fool stuffed thirty of them in his mouth and choked to death. But, this is too clear for the blind men of our age to perceive. So we will mourn, weep, and give loud lamentation for the "tragedy at Columbine," perhaps pass another law or two seeking with pharisaic-like trust to stop evil by statute, and never point an accusing finger at the deadly philosophy that provokes these deadly outbursts. Which means that we must brace ourselves for the next "Columbine," for it will come—as surely as the sunrise. And the most unsafe place for any child will continue to be school—any school that mocks Biblical truth and despises God’s law.

Such is the destiny of a people who are determined to try to prove God wrong. So it always is for those who believe that man can live by bread alone and insist that the fear of the Lord is not the beginning of wisdom. Education that rejects the living God and His Word is not education but deception. It leads not to life but to death. And if we refuse to accept this reality, we must be prepared to lose more children to "crazy" kids with guns and pipe bombs who look upon murder as simply something to do when you get bored.