Healthy Living

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A WAKE-UP CALL


Three teens kill a stranger because they are bored! It seems incredible. Can we write it off as an isolated incident, or is it indicative of a much larger problem? If the latter, then in the nature of a wake-up call.
Initially, it should be observed that it is exceedingly difficult to demonstrate a cause-effect relationship. I am told that this is even true with so-called eye-witness accounts, according to an investigating officer. Persons think they recall seeing what didn’t occur, and conversely fail to recall what they actually witnessed.
Even so, we are obligated to make the best use of our reasoning capabilities. As a former colleague was want to say, “If God gave us a mind, he apparently meant us to use it.” Otherwise, we fall prey to our circumstances.
I have noted that several articles have suggested that this tragic event is a spinoff of a culture that increasingly devalues life. In this regard, William Watkins contrasts the old with the new absolute. As for the former, “Human life from conception to natural death is sacred and worthy of protection.” As for the latter, “Human life, which begins and ends when certain individuals or groups decide it does, is valuable as long as it is wanted”(The New Absolutes, p. 65). While the former appears more in keeping with God’s expressed intent (cf. Gen. 1:27-28).
There are several troublesome issues that this brings to mind. (1) The extensive use of violence on television and in media games. In brief, there is little evidence that a simple correlation exists between watching such action and duplicating it. Conversely, highly impressionable persons may be encouraged to mimic what they observe. Then, too, there appears to be a more general depreciation of the sacredness of life.
There are levels of control that can be exercised. Some practices can be prohibited for the good of society. Secondly, they can be discouraged. Thirdly, favorable alternatives can be explored and promoted. Recalling the sage saying, “Where there is a will, there is a way.”
(2) There is the recourse to military conflict. In this regard, repeated deployments of our military is resulting in an alarming increase in PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and suicides.
As I see it, the danger exists on two fronts. First, we may disregard the merciless killing that goes on. Bringing to mind John Calvin’s observation, “Those who can save a life and fail to do so are guilty of murder.” Second, we may compound the problem. For instance, one feature of the just war theory requires that provision be made for withdrawal after the action is consummated. Instead, we have been strikingly unwilling or unsuccessful in doing so.
(3) A permissive approach to abortion has not only resulted in more deaths than our combined military action during the same time period, but lessens our general advocacy of life. Again, the cause-effect relationship is difficult to establish, but the thesis has been established beyond reasonable doubt.
The learned Egyptologist James Hoffmeier observes “that the Old Testament is concerned with the practice of infant sacrifice, which might be considered the Canaanite counterpart to abortion. This may explain the silence of the Law and Prophets on abortion” (Abortion: A Christian Understanding and Response, p. 53). Since both are driven by the notion of convenience, if by any other designation.
(4) Finally, the traditional family of father, mother, and children seems especially suited for appreciating life. Which brings to mind an instance several years ago when a certain community usurped the role to raise children, while allowing parents limited visitation rights. Then, given time to weigh the results, the matter was reconsidered.
“In any case, the family has come under increasingly adversarial assaults. Not only the family, but the larger society suffers as a result” (Morris Inch, Thumbs Up For the Family, p. vii). Accordingly, this assuredly constitutes a wake up call.

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