In the wake of recent gun-related violence in this country (most recently, the horror that took place in Newtown, Connecticut), some political leaders and media personalities have called for more laws banning guns. Yet the history of such laws is checkered at best: Britain, which has some of the strictest gun-control laws on the planet, has experienced an 89% rise in gun-related violence over the past decade (h/t: Instapundit). I thought gun-control laws were supposed to prevent this from happening. At least, that what politicians and the media promised.
I don't belong to the NRA. I don't own any sort of gun, and have no plans to do so in the future. Yet the willingness of citizens to surrender their very lives to the care of an all-powerful state astonishes me. From the near bankruptcy of the US Post Office, to the bungled handling of Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, to the massive Federal budget deficit (does anyone seriously believe that we will actually pay back one thin dime?), to the botched Fast and Furious operation where the US government sold guns to Mexican drug dealers who used them to kill hundreds of Mexican nationals and a US border agent (so much for gun control), to the corrupt crony capitalism of government deals like Solyndra, to the complete and utter collapse of the War on Poverty and War on Drugs, the failure of government-as-god is apparent for those with eyes to see. Yet - unless I am in error - we appear to be poised to re-invest even more of our lives in the very people who have failed us time and time again. How did it come to this?
As many Americans have turned away from the one true God, they have chased after other false gods as a substitute. Giving government god-like powers is one example. Another is celebrity worship, in which to millions of people the antics of rich socialites like the Kardashians seem more real and important that the sufferings of their neighbors. We know more about President Obama's marriage and family than we do about his plans for dealing with the deficit. Science, sex and drugs are also competing for our loyalties.
Some Christian clergy have publically talked vaguely about a "culture of violence" in the United States. Yet so far very few of them have tackled the prevalent violence in movies, TV and games, the makers of which are big campaign money donors to politicians these clergy seem to prefer. The slaughter of unborn children through abortion does not seem to trouble these clergy, nor does the increasing pressure on the elderly to die and get out of the way of society. These clergy may profess Jesus as Lord with their lips, yet their hearts are firmly secular. They are false prophets who will probably continue to promote the idea that government is the one true god worthy of our allegiance.
