We hear people all the time on TV, the internet, radio and various other media talking about the need for "more gun laws." Does anybody really believe that we can pass laws that will stop people from committing crimes?
We already hang signs on schools, libraries, hospitals, day care centers, etc. that say they're "Gun Free Zones." But do criminals, intent on murder and mayhem, really see a sign like that and say, "Oh, I can't take my weapons in here because it's against the law?" They're lawbreakers. They're going to do what they want to do, regardless of some ridiculous sign.
Let's be up front: there is no law that can change a person's heart. None. And that's where murder, AKA sin, is rooted.
Jesus said the following:
"For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies" Matthew 15:19 (KJV)
There it is. That's where the problem lies. In the person's heart. The gun isn't the problem. The person wielding the gun is the problem. You can take guns away but you haven't fixed the problem. You still have a murderer who will find another weapon of choice. Maybe the murderer will use a bomb, a knife, a vehicle, an airplane, rocks, hammers, screwdrivers, etc. These are just a few of the items people have used to murder other people. Or maybe the murderer will just use his bare hands. Like Cain probably used when he murdered his brother Abel (Genesis 4:8).
When will America wake up and realize that public schools -- and the things they teach -- are a big part of the real problem?
We indoctrinate children to believe they evolved from animals, and then we sit and wring our hands wondering why they act like animals. Murder, rape, fornication, sodomy, cheating, etc. ALL these things happen in public schools or as a result of humanist indoctrination. And it's not just the students either. Teachers are now preying upon the students for their own gratification.
Why?
Because we've turned public schools and institutions into "God Free Zones."
Teach about Islam? No problem. Teach about witchcraft? No problem. Teach kids to think that sex outside of marriage is wonderful? No problem. Sodomy? No problem. Abortion? Wonderful. The one True God? Stop the presses!
Lawsuits! The ACLU will spring into action to "protect" children from learning about the Creator Who said, "Thou shalt not murder" or suffer eternal consequences. The Creator who said we're "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14).
What goes on in the name of public education is really quite disturbing. In fact, this sounds a bit like the following:
Galatians 5:19-21
19) Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,
20) idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,
21) envy, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
All of these things are "works of the flesh." It's what people do when encouraged to be who they want to be, apart from God. It's the "normal" behavior for people that are told over-and-over again they're "basically good" and we "evolved" that way.
I've seen estimates that there are over 20,000 gun laws on the books. Those are in addition to the laws against murder and other crimes. Do we really think one more law is suddenly going to make a difference?
And yet, I think there are two laws that really could make a difference. And again, they come from Jesus Himself:
Mark 12:29-31
29) Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
30) And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
31) The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself. What a revolutionary thought. If people actually put those two commandments into practice, would crime increase or would it drop? The answer seems pretty obvious.
What we've been doing for the past 50+ years isn't working. Maybe it's time to really try something different and radical. Maybe it's time to cry out to the one true God and beg for His mercy. Maybe it's time to start telling kids what God has to say about life. And death.
Maybe it's time to do away with the "God Free Zones" and put His Words into practice.
Or should we continue doing the same thing we always do, hoping this time it will be different?