Independence Day Thoughts

References:
• Freedom definition
• Independence definition
• Jude 1:1
• John 8:34-44

I have been thinking long and hard about this blog entry. Because we were out until well after supper on July Fourth, I was not able to write anything. Yesterday, I was taking care of the kids and doing typical household chores while my wife worked. Again, I was not able to sit down and write anything. But, I was thinking about what to write throughout the day. Today, because my lower back is really bothering me, I am home resting it, trying to stay on top of the pain. It is never a good day when my back acts up, because it affects all that I do. However, since sitting at a computer for short periods of times is something that I can do. So, I am finally getting a chance to put my thoughts into words.

My wife and I talked quite a bit about what we were going to do in celebration of Independence Day. After several discussions, we decided to visit the Homestead National Monument, just outside of Beatrice, Nebraska. It is not the first time we’ve been there. But, being Independence Day, we figured with would be appropriate. That is, celebrating what our Founding Fathers gave us to inherit, this vast country to settle and live in relative freedom.

But, do we really live ‘in freedom?’ That is a very subjective word. What freedom means to one person will not be the same for someone else. According to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, we freedom of the press, freedom of religious practice, freedom of assembly, freedom to keep and bear arms, etc. Because of the tyranny that our Founding Fathers, like George Washington, Ben Franklin, John Hancock, amongst many others, lived under, they put in many, many checks and balances within the Constitution to help ensure that future generations enjoy the same freedoms. And, to some extent, we are.

The thing is, we are never really ‘free.’ Think about it, we will eventually suffer the consequences of the decisions that we make. If we make positive choices, we should experience positive repercussions. If we make bad decisions, we should experience negative consequences. This is not always the case. One can easily read through crime and political stories and see that many people suffer bad consequences for making good choices or make bad decisions but yet are not held accountable. For those of us who believe in the importance of justice, that is a great heartache.

But, all of that aside, we really are not free. Though we may have more freedoms to speak our minds (though Political Correctness is a hindrance to that), worship how we choose, etc., they are all really limited. We are constrained by what is available to us where we live and work. For example, I am in the Army Nation Guard. Though I can participate in elections, I have to be very careful what I say and do in and out of uniform. I am held to different standard, due to the nature of my work. I am also very much constrained in how I critique my leadership. It’s against the Uniformed Code of Military Justice to speak of my leadership in a negative manner that impacts the morale and welfare of the US Military as a whole.

If I were ordained within a denomination (let’s say, Presbyterian Church USA, since that is the denomination that I grew up in) and challenged decisions that the PC USA leadership had made, they could (depending on what I said and how I said it), take me to court (Judicial hearings) and, could either reprimand me, prevent me from being able to accept a call to another church, revoke my ordination credentials, or even excommunicate me. Believe it or not, the PC USA can excommunicate someone. In a nutshell, the denomination, if it so chooses, will have every church that the excommunicated member attended and have them erase all references of their attendance, having been confirmed and/or being on any ministry boards, etc. Such a person would not be able to transfer their membership to any other church; they would literately have to start all over.

However, each and every one of us is truly not free. We all have a sinful nature and pushes us to make bad, selfish decisions. We all easily choose to do things that harm ourselves and others. Some people flaunt their sinful passions while others seek to restrain them. But, it is something we all have. We are either slaves to our sinful passions, or we are servants of Christ. That is, we willingly submit ourselves to His Lordship, seeking to be obedient in service to Him. Whether we choose to be servants to our sinful nature or seek to be faithful servants of Christ, we are not ‘kings or queens’ or our own life.

We are never ‘truly free.’ We have to submit ourselves to those that we work for. We have to submit ourselves to the rules and regulations of the local town, state, and even country that we live in, etc. While in school getting an education, we have to submit ourselves to their rules for attending classes, getting good grades, taking the courses we need to graduate, etc. We are always having to submit ourselves to someone or something (organization). We also either submit our choices to our sinful nature, or we prayerfully seek to be led by God via the Holy Spirit. What is our choice?

Reflections on the Connecticut Shooting

I am sure that I am not the only one out there writing his or her reflections on the incredible act of violence that transpired at the elementary school in Connecticut Friday. Like so many people, I am contemplating how to understand what has transpired. Because of my background, how I have been contemplating such events is a real mixed baggage. If you are interested and willing, please continue reading as I list some of my thoughts. Just be warned, I tend to be upfront with my faith and beliefs, and at times very blunt.

First and foremost, this was a very evil act. To me, purposely going after people who are unable to defend themselves is something that should be very harshly punished. But, to me at least, why did he do it? How could a 20-year-old man consider doing something as cruel as going through a school? Being angry at one's parents, former teacher, etc., is one thing. Whether justifiable because of things in the past or not, one adult seeking to kill another adult is one thing. But, to go around and slaughter children?! That is something totally different. My faith informs me that all of us are imperfect and sinful beings. That is, our natures are corrupt since birth, seeking to gratify our felt desires. Through training, we can manage this to some extent, be we will always have this sinful nature. When we look around, we see some people who go to great lengths to disciple themselves so as to indulge their sinful desires less. But, we also see those who go out of their way to gratify them. Though many do not seek out ways so horrific as what happened on Friday, they still seek to gratify them.

For someone to choose to commit such a crime as shooting innocent children in a school, it seems that such a person would have had to harbor a very deep kind of bitterness for a very long time. In Ephesians 4:26, we read: "26 "Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath," There is something very important to take away from this passage, I believe. When we allow anger to continue to fester in our hearts, it turns to bitterness. As this bitterness grows, it pushes out things like love, forgiveness, compassion, etc. As these things are pushed aside, out of one's life, it becomes more and more easy to consider things like taking one's anger out on anyone who is available, to just lash out. All of us feel angry at some point of time. That is a natural, God given emotion. It tells us that something is wrong (or at least feels wrong) and that something needs to be done. So, feeling angry is not bad, in and of itself. It's what a person does in expressing and/or deal with that anger that is either constructive or destructive.

From what little I have read, two of the victims appear to be his parents. It makes me wonder what his parents had done to enrage him so much. Or, a more likely issue is, what made this young man interpret things in such a way as to become so bitter. In a recent Fox News article, I read that some are speculating that mental illness might have something to do with his rampage. While in college, I took several psychology courses. One of the things that I learned from that is that reasons are never totally clear. Though there can be many influences, it's rarely clear as to what is a 'definite why.' My experiences and training inform me that we all have three facets, the physical, the emotional/psychological, and the spiritual. All three facets are interrelated and what happens to one directly impacts the other two.

On Facebook, I have read many posts about how angry people are about the man's actions in Connecticut. Some people blame guns, some blame education, others are just angry. Many people are struggling with wondering the "why did he?!?!" Others are asking how we could have protected the children.

I've worked corrections and military law enforcement. I am definitely not alone in wishing I could have done something. Being what my background is, I know that I could have done something. But, I often wonder if it would have been good enough? That is not a question I can really answer. Because of how many state and/or local laws are written, if I am not a law enforcement officer then I would not have been able to legally carry a weapon onto school grounds. That means, if I had been nearby and had the means to respond, I wonder if it would have been something that I could have done legally? I know that there are many out there that agree with me in that, were I there and had the means to have use whatever force necessary to stop this young man, I should have. However, I know that there are many out there who take the position that anything that, because I am not a civilian law enforcement officer, any use of a weapon on school property would be considered breaking the law. That is, I would be just as guilty of using a weapon on school grounds as the man shooting the children, teachers, etc.

When such events as this happen, we all struggle with how to understand it. We all struggle with how it could have been prevented and how to prevent future things from happening. There are no easy answers. There are no easy solutions, either. There are some things that are better than others, though.  One of the things that I read in the above-mentioned article was that the car and guns used in the rampage were all stolen. The car, the rifle, and the pistols were all owned by his mother, Nancy Lanza. Whether or not the young man suffered from any mental illness, it is clear that he stole weapons from someone else to use in his crimes. So, trying to justify more weapons control/bans is unfounded. He didn't buy them, he stole them. So far I have not read if he used the weapons to kill his mother or if he killed her by other means and then obtained the rifle and pistols. And to me, it doesn't really matter.

Although I am a military police officer with the Nebraska National Guard that does not mean that I can carry a firearm onto school grounds, with or without a CCW (concealed carry weapons) permit. There are so many people and places that are anti-gun that for those who choose to go through the training and application process for a CCW, it's difficult to be legally able to use that training. To me, that's sad. It also angers me. Many of us not only have a passion to help and protect others, even if that is not our primary job in life but have the training and experience to do so.

I don't know about others, but I would be very, very angry if any person who choose to risk their own life to stop someone like this shooter and were they prosecuted as a criminal because they also brought a firearm onto a school. Unfortunately, heroes like that are victimized because, in order to stop someone from committing a crime, they had to break a law. Instead of thanking the person for doing so, they are put in jail. It doesn't make any sense to me. Which is worse, carrying a firearm onto school grounds to stop an active shooter or the actions of the shooter? What is really justifiable? Which is a greater evil? We have Good Samaritan laws to protect those who try to save the lives of others. Why don't we have similar laws to protect citizen who would be willing to risk their own lives to protect others in a shooting situation?

I've been deployed to Iraq many times. I've studied Scripture for years and prayerfully seek God's help in applying it to my life. I have worked with convicted felons in a state prison, having to deal with some people who genuinely do not care about others, but only want to gratify their own selfish, even perverted, desires. I have also worked military law enforcement. I have been on a use of force team on numerous occasions because an inmate refused to follow the rules and force was necessary to correct the situation. I have had to spontaneously use force on a few occasions in order to protect myself or someone else. I have sat at the bedside of someone who was so distraught with life that they tried to commit suicide and had not succeeded. I have talked with friends and family members of someone who had suffered serious injure or had died because of a bad decision that they had made or because of someone else had. In some ways, all of these experiences help me to personally deal with such events. But, only so much.

All in all, I still struggle with such events. I am angry with the person who did such things. I am angry that people want to punish law abiding citizens who have not committed crimes just because someone else has. I am angry that there are those who would want to punish a person who would be willing to do anything and everything they possible could to protect the innocent because of how they stopped a criminal. I am saddened that young children were murdered by someone who, for whatever reasons, took his anger and bitterness out on them. I also want to understand how such a thing happened or how to prevent such a thing from happening in the future.

Many ask how a loving God could allow such a thing to happen. I do not know why. But, I do know that God is in control. What happened was evil. But, I do know that God can bring blessings out of it.  I know that many people will be very angry with the statement that I just made. That is fine with me. Looking back at my life, I know that I have made many bad decisions. We all have. But, God has shown me grace and helped me to learn from such mistakes. I know that God has done that in other people's lives. I also know that God can bring good out of this situation, too. For me, the big question is, are we going to seek to punish others for the sins/mistakes of one person, or are we going to seek how God wants to show us His Grace? Are we going to be willing to accept what God wants to give us or teach us? I don't have the answer for that either. I just hope and pray that whatever God wants to do with this event in my life, that I will be obedient. I pray that you, the reader, will do so as well.

RC