No doubt, you have heard plenty about the recent shootings of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge.
What are we to make of all the carnage and lives lost?
Do the heinous acts of brutality hold anything in common?
Can shooting of police officers and other acts of violence be prevented in the future?
THE COMMON THREAD
I am not claiming to know the exact motivations of Micah Johnson nor Gavin Long, the two men responsible for the shootings of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, respectively.
But I am claiming to see a pattern.
That is, these shootings of police officers were motivated by a general rejection of authority.
Police officers stand as a civil authority in society. Their presence is necessary to enforce the existing laws and to maintain peace in our neighborhoods and communities.
More broadly, police stand as a symbol of the moral authority we humans all are subjected to.
And where does the authority policemen possess come from? Ultimately, it comes from God (John 19:11).
Thus, the rejection of the authority of the police is motivated by a rejection of God and His authority.
WHERE DOES THIS COME FROM?
To what can we trace this rejection of authority? Where does it come from? Who is responsible for it?
We could point the finger to a number of places, but I think a very plausible explanation can be found. The Culture of Death has bred this hatred for life and for authority. Think about it.
The Culture of Death’s most prominent and obvious sacrament remains surgical abortion. The Culture of Death brings death to thousands of unborn children every day this way. A society that permits the murder of its children cannot stand for long.
As well, the Culture of Death hates children and the obligations they come with. Thus, contraception access and use has become ubiquitous. A society that does not welcome children subtly closes its doors to any duty to care for one’s neighbor.
Rather than view children as gifts from God, the possibility of new human life gets snuffed out. In doing this, the Culture of Death rejects God as being the author and originator of human life. In place of recognizing His dominion, mankind has assumed to know better who gets the “right” to live.
If we humans can decide who gets to live, then we should be able to decide who must die. Thus, the Culture of Death has brought us euthanasia under the guise of compassion. When we kill those in our culture who are sick and ‘leaching’ off us, we are claiming a utilitarian view of the value of human life.
We live in a culture that not only tolerates death, but enshrines it into law and protects it with civil penalty to the contrary.
A mother can have her own baby murdered by abortion. Legal activity, sanctioned by the state.
A couple who has sex one night can wake up the next morning desiring to kill any baby who may have been conceived by that act. Thus, they can pop an “emergency” contraceptive to cause the death of an unborn human life. This is legally protected in this country.
A dying elderly person can get insurance to pay for her doctor-assisted suicide easier than she can get coverage to pay for her cancer treatment. Again, legalized murdered in some states.
If you’re unborn and an inconvenience, then you don’t have any “right” to exist any longer. If you’re old and too much of a burden, you become dispensable.
In essence, we live in a culture where certain people can decide certain other people’s lives are expendable.
Is it any wonder, with proper authority so misunderstood that some people have decided to assume for themselves who that cops must die?
And how can anyone who supports the Culture of Death argue against the shootings of police officers? Who are they to decide murder is wrong?
How long are we going to permit a culture that sanctions so much death? When are we going to stop assuming the right to decide how long innocent lives get to live?
YOUR TURN
What do you think links the shootings of the police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge?
Please weight in with your thoughtful analysis below.
