Today I saw a newspaper headline that made the pastor of First Baptist
Dallas look really dorky. I've never met the guy; but unfortunately, when a
famous pastor looks dorky, it kind of makes Christianity in general look dorky.
What he said was that the way to solve the issue of gun violence in
schools is to teach students the Ten Commandments. In context, I believe he
said that that would be one root solution, not the only solution, to the problem.
Yes, of course he's right. If you teach somebody to not kill people, and if
they obey your teachings, they won't kill people. But taken out of context, it
sounds pretty insensitive and holier-than-thou. I mean, people have died. Our
country is hurting.
I've had some rather insensitive reactions myself, but mainly just in
annoyance toward all the protests. It seems like every time a millennial gets
offended, somebody organizes a march. What about me? Where's my march? Why
didn't anyone organize a frickin' protest for me anytime anyone dumped on ME?
And how would a protest or a march help to stop gun violence? What kind of
lesson would it teach these kids?
A huge lesson, honestly.
Today while I was listening to music, the old song "We Are the
World" reminded me of how important it is to give money to people who need
it. I was in the third grade when this song was popular. I went to a cool
school who would show us very interesting and helpful filmstrips and TV
specials. One day, they showed us the making of "We Are the Word,"
and I've never forgotten it. I knew somebody who was involved with the cause,
and I remember giving $10 to help starving people in Africa. I even got a nifty
poster that I treasure in my home to this day.
I used to work for a company that produced direct mail for nonprofit
organizations. Today I got to thinking that the "We Are the World"
song was more effective at influencing me to give money than any piece of
direct mail ever was. I had this silly thought that maybe my previous employer
should have just put their direct mail to music -- that would get people to
give. Heh, heh.
Then I got to thinking that since my elementary school exposed me to giving
to the needy, I got the message.
I'm not a millennial; I'm a gen-Xer. The people of my generation didn't
really have to deal with as much violence in schools as kids today. We had to
deal with AIDS and drugs. (I understand that those still exist today; it's just
that we as a country were kind of first learning about them when I was a kid.)
I remember the educational campaigns with videos and T-shirts and mottos that
taught us how important it was to not catch AIDS and to not do drugs. To this
day, my ears perk up when someone talks about AIDS or HIV. And to this day,
abusing drugs isn't an option for me. (Frankly, this is something that is good
to know as a woman in her 40s with broken dreams who sometimes wishes there
were something immediately handy to numb her pain.)
Where did I learn this? In school. From the constant exposure.
Here's my point, and I hope it isn't an insensitive one. I don't have
kids, so I don't have to worry about exposing anyone in my family to potential
violence inside a school building -- which really should be the safest place in
the world for a child. And I don't have to roll my eyes because my kids are growing
up in a society that teaches them to hit the streets in protest every time they
disagree with something. But I think these kids are going to grow up learning a
very important lesson: Violence is wrong, and they deserve to be safe.
I'm not saying the protests will solve everything. (And I'm not saying
I won't roll my eyes again the next time I see yet another march against something
on my Newsfeed.) I'm saying the schoolchildren of this twisted generation will
be impacted very positively in a way that they won't forget. For as long as
they live, they will remember that violence is wrong, guns don't solve
problems, security is important, and their lives are worth being protected.
Perhaps they will be better equipped to love themselves, and to love their neighbor
as themselves, than I was as a kid.
(As a side note, I don't own a gun, I don't know how to shoot a gun,
I'm not opposed to your right to own a gun, and I'm not opposed to learning how
to shoot one myself. For now, my method of self-defense is longish nails and a
crazy-Mexican disposition. You should know by now that you shouldn't mess with
me.)
I think it's a shame that the people of my generation ended up raising
a generation of children who have to wonder if someone is going to show up at
their school and go postal. It's a shame that our society has deteriorated so
quickly in recent years that we have to evaluate the type of security that we
have in schools. (And yes, it's a total shame that we officially don't allow
prayer in public schools and that parents may not teach basic laws like the Ten
Commandments to their kids already at home.)
I guess the people of this generation will end up taking after their
hippie baby-boomer grandparents. I guess instead of protesting a war in
Vietnam, they're protesting a domestic war against themselves... and they
didn't even do anything to deserve it. That's a huge shame.
But, as the songwriters of "We Are the World" would say,
"We're saving our own lives. It's true we'll make a better day, just you
and me."
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