Time to Draw the Line
This Memorial Day weekend, I want to say thanks to all the men and women who stood up to defend the line our country drew in the sand.
That’s what we do as people. We draw a line and say, “This is what I believe to be the limit between acceptable and unacceptable. This is the point from which I cannot agree to further progression.”
And sometimes, our country draws that line.
Wars have been fought for millenia all over the world, because someone wanted something. They wanted to subdue other people, to take land, to gain access to natural resources. They wanted—they wanted wealth or power or revenge or fame or to dictate what others should believe.
They wanted something, and for those desires, they were willing to kill other human beings.
Somehow, they believed that pursuing what they wanted was more important—more valuable than a human life—more valuable even than countless human lives.
In answer, throughout history, people have drawn a line and stood behind it, saying,
“Stop right there. I won’t let you take what you want from me. I will defend what I believe is right. And I will defend my right to believe. I will defend my home and my family and my community with my life—for the sake of my life, my family, and my community. I will defend my life with my life by being willing to give it up. It is the most valuable thing I have the right to give.”
People have joined together to defend a line they believed in. Communities have done the same. And nations.
And because there will always be people who want—wealth, fame, power, revenge, even natural resources—it’s likely there will always be wars.
Because some of the people who want those things don’t believe human life is valuable. Other people’s lives mean nothing to them—others’ lives are nothing but currency to them, the thing they’re willing to spend to get what they want.
But not everyone is willing to let them do that. A person, a community, a nation—draws a line, and people step forward, willing to defend it. (Hold the line, Ukraine!)
It’s time for our nation to draw a line between what is acceptable and unacceptable. Again.
For the sake of our children.
In Texas last week, and previously in other schools in our country, something we nearly all hold as infinitely valuable—children—were sacrificed for what someone wanted. Children—the embodiment of hope and possibility, unconditional love, and the greatest natural resource.
What the shooter wanted we may never know, completely, for how can we know exactly what’s going on in someone else’s mind? Scientists study the human brain, the psyche, human nature—its desires and motivations, and the physical manifestation of the brain processing thoughts. Perhaps they can explain precisely why people want something so badly they’re willing to kill for it, but I doubt it. So many factors influence a person’s thoughts and ideas and shape who they become.
However, I believe we have a responsibility to examine our culture and try to determine just what is conditioning and/or influencing them to think that what they want is more important than a child’s life.
If we are honest with ourselves, and willing to admit that, to an extent, our society might be influencing their behavior, we can find some disturbing parallels. And maybe, just maybe, we can get to the heart of the matter.
Because, as is so often the case, it’s not really a matter of creating new laws to stop these things from happening—people who murder others are already disobeying the law—it’s really about the desires of the human heart.
Desire, by itself, is not bad. It can motivate people in positive ways. But wanting something so much that a person is willing to kill other people for it? That’s the root of the problem.
We could take away the weapon used at the school in Texas, but not his desire to use it. If his desire drove him to do something this heinous, he would have just found some other way to pull it off—he could have driven his truck into a playground or a bus full of children, or used a bomb.
We think actions such as his must be those of someone mentally ill, because they are abhorrent to most of us. We HAVE to realize the importance of social-emotional health, and we should fight to make mental health care as available and as accepted as any other health care. But if he doesn’t seek it, can we force it on him?
Most of all, we must not convince ourselves that those measures alone will keep someone from sacrificing other peoples’ lives in order to fulfill their desires—as evidenced by the ever-current travesty of human trafficking.
Until everyone believes that sacrificing others will not help them gain what they want, we won’t solve the problem.
What was it the shooter wanted? Did he gain it?
Fame—he has it now. How many posts on social media could he claim to be about him right now?
Power—oh yes! Power over what we’re thinking and feeling, and the politics that will ensue. He has incredible influence right now over a world full of people who are reeling in shock and anger and revulsion.
Revenge—against whom? Those children? Doubtful. Then against whom or what? The system? Society in general?
Perhaps people who become active shooters only want to make a statement, to express hate and anger. Who knows what in our society would lead them to think that’s okay? What could they possibly see in adults’ behavior that would enable them to think hate is acceptable? If we label massacre as a form of self-expression—of making a statement—will it be legalized?
Perhaps other people are no more real to the shooter than figures in a video game, or actors in a movie, and therefore feel no empathy for them.
Perhaps school shooters don’t really consider children as people. At what point, after all, is a human life considered a person worth defending?
Perhaps mass shooters don’t understand the reality of natural consequences, because they’ve been protected from them.
Are we teaching the children in our society how to decide whether something is right or wrong, or is the desire for something the only criteria they believe important? If adults constantly give in to what children want, will they believe their desires are supposed to be fulfilled at all costs? Are we doing this? If so, how will they control their desires when they are grown?
Has the line between acceptable and unacceptable been smudged and bent and in some cases erased to the point that we don’t know where to stand in order to teach our children?
Or protect them?
Are we wise enough to know where to re-draw the line? Are we willing to live differently in order to defend it?
Are we willing to give up things we want in order to save other people?
If you aren’t willing to draw the line, who do you think will? Do you trust them to draw it in a place you’d be willing to defend?
This is one battle our military cannot fight for us.
But it is a vital one for our country to face.
Are we as brave and willing as the members of our military?
Will you stand with others? With your family, your community?
To defend our lives? To defend the children?
