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RenewingMinds
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In contrast to commentary issued by the liberal media, the content of the newly released home videotapes by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold strongly supports our initial assessment which was published within a few weeks of the event. The importance of this is NOT to say, "We told you so." Rather, it is of critical importance that the true nature of the problem be accurately diagnosed, so that a viable solution be sought and future tragedies be avoided. Sadly, most media cherishes certain liberal presuppositions and they will spin their reporting to support those axioms--even at the expense of additional, future victims.
Tragedy at Columbine High School
"There is danger in ridicule." -- liberal TV host Charles Groden
Following the deadly melee in Littleton, Colorado, Bill Clinton took another stab at leadership by reading a statement on national news. When he had ended, a media reporter quickly fired off a question which left him momentarily speechless...
Mr. President, given the repetitive nature of these high school shootings, would you view this as some sort of nationwide epidemic?
While our President awkwardly answered with a "No", any normal observer can see that he is wrong. If now is not the time for candid talk, then when?
In an effort to help shed light on this event and answer questions which all are certainly asking, we have listed several factors, which in our opinion contributed to this tragedy. However, here are some explanations being advanced that we believe are short-sighted, erroneous, and which only anesthetize the public to the true nature of the problem.
The Internet is to blame. No. The Internet is simply an advanced form of communication like radio, telephones, and television. All forms of technology can be used for good or for ill.
Guns are to blame. No. And neither are cars the cause of 'road rage'. This simplistic view puts the cart before the horse. It seeks to ignore the root problem--the distraught emotional, psychological, and spiritual state of various individuals and groups.
Public Schools are under-funded; they need more money. No. If this were true, the greatest school violence would occur in the poorest districts, and amongst non-government funded schools. Even the most casual observer can see the illogic in this theory. Columbine is a well-financed, suburban high school. What if the system known as 'public' education is morally, spiritually, and pedagogically bankrupt?
We lack "Hate Crimes" legislation. No. Why not enforce the legislation already on the books. Promoters of these types of laws are motivated by an extreme form of intolerance and desire to see legal punishment of those they deem "politically incorrect".
We believe the current epidemic of school violence is the convergence of several complex factors. These include:
Increasing 'cycles of violence'. As the Judeo-Christian foundation of western culture continues to erode and be undermined, the traditional ethic that individuals should not individually pursue vengeance and retribution has been erased from the national consciousness. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris sought revenge and retribution for having been humiliated and mistreated by peers. When the source of such humiliation is the opposite sex, the emotional and psychological consequences are devastating.
The limited opportunities for America's young men to successfully navigate toward genuine masculinity and manhood. Even the most healthy male ego has emotional and psychological difficulty with personal ridicule and public humiliation. America's gender war appears to be taking a turn toward increased violence.
The deplorable condition of America's socialistic public schools. Like the failed Soviet empire, public educators are forever seeking to erect walls to prevent an exodus from their bankrupt and nihilistic system. History has proven (to all but the ideologes) that all socialistic systems sooner or later collapse from within. Tragically, the children are caught in the midst of this hemorrhaging failure.
There is abject failure for both modernism and postmodernism to produce a wholesome, nonviolent culture. Contemporary multicultural diversity has become the greatest catalyst for both intolerance and violence. The death of truth has produced a culture of death.
Walking Time Bombs
"We're going to kick-start a revolution of the dispossessed." -- Eric Harris
In our opinion, the two young murders at Columbine High School are representative of tens of thousands of semi-effeminate [1] young males who feel disenfranchised, rejected, and are the objects of ridicule and injustice by peers. As reported on national news, these young men were the continued object of ridicule by "jocks" and "beauty queens"-- the often pride-filled members of the student body. Associated Press reporter, David Foster wrote:
Another member of the group [Trenchcoat Mafia] told The Denver Post that he understood why the teens snapped: One of the reasons the Trenchcoat Mafia existed, he said, was to give its members a sense of belonging in the face of teasing and bullying by other students, especially athletes. "I can't describe how hard it was to get up in the morning and face that," the 18 year-old, demanding anonymity, told The Denver Post. "Hell...pure hell."
Public educators know this goes on, but are helpless to change the dynamic. Because of the moral and spiritual bankruptcy of American society, largely expressed in both mass media and the halls of public education [2], tens of thousands of young men are denied a right of passage to manhood. Our secular, sports-crazed culture provides few alternative models for what it means to be a man, and garner respect.
"Isn't it fun to get the respect that we're going to deserve?" -- Eric Harris
Listen to an average group of American males express their values. Their heroes are typically athletes (e.g., John Elway), the Wall Street or Media tycoon (e.g., Donald Trump, Ted Turner) or the sexually promiscuous (e.g., Hugh Hefner, or the fictional character, James Bond). The effect is that younger men quickly conclude "you're nobody if you're not scoring touchdowns, counting money, or scoring with the babes!" If a young man doesn't fit these moulds, he typically finds himself ostracized and humiliated by one or more school cliques. Is this not the case in school after school across the land?
The result in a serious level of emotional pain. Often the outcast will swallow the pain and become withdrawn in an effort to hide this vulnerability. However, the psychological pain soon turns to anger, and then anger to rage--all repressed and hidden from all but an intimate few. By contrast, it is a growing minority of young men who find ways to cope or escape.
"I'm sorry I have so much rage." -- Dylan Klebold
To escape, many turn to the world of video fantasy--film and video games. Hollywood has skillfully learned to market to the marred, male psyche. Author Weldon Hardenbrook writes:
Part of the incredible power that draws millions of men and boys to embrace the celluloid superhero of today, the latest crop of macho men, is their thirst for justice. Wanting to see offenders punished and the enemy destroyed is a basic orientation put into men by God. Fathers want this justice.
But genuine justice is not welcome in modern America.
Hostile charges against men’s natural inclination to aggressively seek justice involve a play on feminized emotions. They are a sneaky, disarming attempt to strip males of their manhood—to make them feel guilty over something innately masculine. Real men get angry over injustice. The Son of God Himself ran the moneychangers out of the temple.
In their plight, they are helpless to deal with the emotional pain and cope with a society devoid of justice. Their condition creates pain, their pain has turned to anger, and their anger has waxed to rage. Tragically, they've seen over and over in films that personal vengeance and retribution are ok and that use a gun might address both the injustice as well as the pain.
"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like." Galatians 5:19
Worst than Dante's Inferno -- The Public Schools
...to be continued. For now, see The Failure of Public Education link below.
[1] American culture is in the throws of a gender crisis--which at its root is a spiritual crisis. This is the sociological backdrop which must be kept in mind when attempting to make sense of our contemporary social problems. See our discussion regarding the book, MISSING FROM ACTION - A Powerful Historical Response to the Crisis among American Men at http://withchrist.org/friends.htm
[2] For a more detailed explanation of the bankruptcy of government-funded, 'public' education, see The Failure of Public Education at http://withchrist.org/CPE.htm
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