LETTERS: SOME POSSIBLE REASONS FOR VIOLENCE

To the editor:

Who can give a definitive answer to why our children are murdering each other at school? Our president asks, "Why?" Another question occurred to me: "What could encourage the actions taken by these kids?" Here are some possibilities:

Fear. A continually increasing devaluation of respect for life from abortion to euthanasia. Amoral situational ethics taught as truth. Christianity -- and, therefore, the basic moral teachings and absolute truth taught through the Judeo-Christian Bible -- is ridiculed by the cultural elite, Hollywood, the media. God or prayer to God made illegal in school. The highest divorce rate ever in the United States. Immorality not only accepted, but pushed as normal. Gangs and rampant drugs. Constant release of killer-slasher movies aimed at youth audiences. Ultraviolent video games marketed to youths. More and more graphically depicted violence seen on TV. A never-ending supply of entertainment preaching hopelessness mixed with glorified violence in music and music videos. An increase in violent, racist, underground hate groups with easily accessible information on the Internet. Directions for making bombs available on the Internet at school. A constant barrage of murder-related crimes heard daily on the news. Reality-based video shows where youths can watch real people being killed. Not to mention a doctor who kills a patient on prime time. A media-induced slang name, Generation X, given to our youths along with the negative stigma it carries: the lost generation, the first generation not to have the same opportunities as earlier generations, alternative and anti-social behavior expected.

We might not have the single definitive answer for every catastrophe, but given these negative influences, even our own doctors and psychologists could deduce the negative actions we are faced with today.

If we as a nation do not repent of sin and turn to God for help, then we are just at the beginning of sorrows.

BRUCE COLLIER

Cape Girardeau