Where Does
the Blame Lay?
Several months ago, I felt the urge to write a booklet entitled, The Demonization
of Firearms and the Deterioration of Society. In brief, the booklet details
how many venues are making firearms out to be evil and their availability responsible
for many of the horrific acts occurring in society today. I disagree completely
with this presumptuous theory. There is no object to blame for the problems
in society. The responsibility for those problems lies much deeper than an object.
Paraphrasing from the booklet, firearms lack, by definition, the properties
to be evil. No inanimate object can be evil. In Webster’s Dictionary,
evil is defined as having bad moral qualities; sinful; wicked; corrupt; perverse.
Reading this definition, one can see that objects lack the qualities to be or
to become evil. Only people possess the qualities to be or to become evil. Objects
can only be used as accessories or instruments of our evil.
As humans, not only do we possess the ability to be evil, we often choose to
act upon that ability. If you believe the Bible, as I do, the first murder occurred
without a firearm, but with a rock, when Cain killed his brother by beating
him to death with a stone. The stone, itself, was no more evil than today’s
firearms, but was merely an inanimate object, made an accessory to one man’s
evil. As you can see, evil and violence are nothing new. But, you may say, violence
and evil are increasing. To this, I would agree.
In our culture today, we seem to need to find a reason, or object, to blame
for the increase in evil instead of looking at where the only source of blame
could lie—society itself. Evil increases through moral decay or decline.
The only way for evil to increase is if good decreases. The opposite holds true
as well. Good increases through rises in moral behavior. And for good to increase,
evil must decrease. We as humans, hold the keys that control which way the scales
tip. I believe in God, the Bible, and the Devil, or Satan. God, being Good,
Satan, being Evil. Our choice of which one to follow (Good or Evil) determines
the increase or decrease in the tip of the scales. As many would agree that
evil and violence are increasing, so it is easy to conclude that we are turning
from God and toward Satan. One doesn’t have to look far to see this in
modern society. Where do I start? Most of the behaviors that come to mind are
not that of turning from God, but are the results of that turning. We turn from
God when we remove the Ten Commandments from courthouses and public places.
When we remove prayer from sporting events, graduation ceremonies and public
meetings. When we take God’s truths and dilute these truths, making a
more socially acceptable Gospel. We turn from God when we remove Him from our
funerals, weddings, decisions both personal and business, and family matters
and home life. The easiest way to say this is, we turn from God when we remove
Him from our daily lives—our daily thoughts and actions.
If we continue to blame objects and not identify and address the true source
of the increase in evil, no matter how many objects we find to blame, evil will
still increase. Unless we choose to follow God and His principles, the evil
of today (which is shocking compared to a few years ago) will seem small yet
again, to those in a few years. The booklet was finished the day of the Aurora
theater shooting and well in advance of the Sandy Hook school shooting. Where
are many in society placing blame for these two tragic events (as well as many
others)? I’ll leave that answer up to you.
--Written by John Barbee
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