Paul Harvey on Columbine High School ... <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
For the life of me, I can't understand what could have gone wrong in Littleton, Colorado. If only the parents had kept their children away from the guns, we wouldn't have had such a tragedy. Yeah, it must have been the guns.
It couldn't have been because half of our children are being raised in broken homes.
It couldn't have been because our children get to spend an average of 30 seconds in meaningful conversation with their parents each day. After all we give our children quality time.
It couldn't have been because we treat our children as pets and our pets as children.
It couldn't have been because we place our children in day care centers where they learn their socialization skills among their peers under the law of the jungle while employees who have no vested interest in the children look on and make sure that no blood is spilled.
It couldn't have been because we allow our children to watch, on average, seven hours of television a day filled with the glorification of sex and violence that isn't fit for adult consumption.
It couldn't have been because we allow (or even encourage) our children to enter into virtual worlds in which, to win the game, one must kill as many opponents as possible in the most sadistic way possible.
It couldn't have been because we have sterilized and contracepted our families down to sizes so small that the children we do have are so spoiled with material things that they come to equate the receiving of the material with love.
It couldn't have been because our children, who historically have been seen as a blessing from God, are now being viewed as either a mistake created when contraception fails or inconveniences that parents try to raise in their spare time.
It couldn't have been because we give two year prison sentences to teenagers who kill their newborns.
It couldn't have been because our school systems teach the children that they are nothing but glorified apes who have revolutionized out of some primordial soup of mud.
It couldn't have been because we teach our children that there are no laws of morality that transcend us, that everything is relative and that actions don't have consequences. What the heck, the president gets away with it.
Nah, it must have been the guns.[/quote]
With all the increasing violence in and out of schools, what in the world is happening with our kids today? Let's see ... Madeline Murray O'Hare complained that she didn't want any prayer in our schools, and we said OK.
Then someone said you had better not read the Bible in school. The Bible that says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.
Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't discipline our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem. And we said, well, an expert should know what he's talking about so we won't do it anymore.
Then someone said that teachers and principals better not discipline our children when they misbehave. And the school administrators said no staff member in this school had better discipline a student when they misbehave because we don't want any bad publicity, and we surely don't want to be sued. We accepted their reasoning.
Then someone said, let's let our daughters have abortions if they want and they won't even have to tell their parents. And we said, hey, that's a grand idea.
Then some wise school board member said, since boys will be boys and they're going to "do it" anyway, let's give our sons all the condoms they want so they can have all the "fun" they desire, and we won't have to tell their parents they got them at school. And we said, that's another great idea.
And then some of our top elected officials said that it doesn't matter what we do in private as long as we do our jobs. And agreeing with them, we said it doesn't matter to me what anyone, including the President, does in private as long as I have a job and the economy is good.
And someone took and published pictures of nude children and made them available on the internet. And we said, they're entitled to their free speech.
And the entertainment industry said, let's make TV shows and movies that promote profanity, violence, and illicit sex. And let's record music that encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide, and satanic themes. And we said, it's just entertainment that has no adverse effect, and nobody takes it seriously anyway so go right ahead.
So, now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long enough and hard enough, we can figure it out. Maybe it has to do with "we reap what we sow."
Clarence Schultz
U.S. Navy Chaplain (retired)
For the life of me, I can't understand what could have gone wrong in Littleton, Colorado. If only the parents had kept their children away from the guns, we wouldn't have had such a tragedy. Yeah, it must have been the guns.
It couldn't have been because half of our children are being raised in broken homes.
It couldn't have been because our children get to spend an average of 30 seconds in meaningful conversation with their parents each day. After all we give our children quality time.
It couldn't have been because we treat our children as pets and our pets as children.
It couldn't have been because we place our children in day care centers where they learn their socialization skills among their peers under the law of the jungle while employees who have no vested interest in the children look on and make sure that no blood is spilled.
It couldn't have been because we allow our children to watch, on average, seven hours of television a day filled with the glorification of sex and violence that isn't fit for adult consumption.
It couldn't have been because we allow (or even encourage) our children to enter into virtual worlds in which, to win the game, one must kill as many opponents as possible in the most sadistic way possible.
It couldn't have been because we have sterilized and contracepted our families down to sizes so small that the children we do have are so spoiled with material things that they come to equate the receiving of the material with love.
It couldn't have been because our children, who historically have been seen as a blessing from God, are now being viewed as either a mistake created when contraception fails or inconveniences that parents try to raise in their spare time.
It couldn't have been because we give two year prison sentences to teenagers who kill their newborns.
It couldn't have been because our school systems teach the children that they are nothing but glorified apes who have revolutionized out of some primordial soup of mud.
It couldn't have been because we teach our children that there are no laws of morality that transcend us, that everything is relative and that actions don't have consequences. What the heck, the president gets away with it.
Nah, it must have been the guns.[/quote]
With all the increasing violence in and out of schools, what in the world is happening with our kids today? Let's see ... Madeline Murray O'Hare complained that she didn't want any prayer in our schools, and we said OK.
Then someone said you had better not read the Bible in school. The Bible that says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.
Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't discipline our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem. And we said, well, an expert should know what he's talking about so we won't do it anymore.
Then someone said that teachers and principals better not discipline our children when they misbehave. And the school administrators said no staff member in this school had better discipline a student when they misbehave because we don't want any bad publicity, and we surely don't want to be sued. We accepted their reasoning.
Then someone said, let's let our daughters have abortions if they want and they won't even have to tell their parents. And we said, hey, that's a grand idea.
Then some wise school board member said, since boys will be boys and they're going to "do it" anyway, let's give our sons all the condoms they want so they can have all the "fun" they desire, and we won't have to tell their parents they got them at school. And we said, that's another great idea.
And then some of our top elected officials said that it doesn't matter what we do in private as long as we do our jobs. And agreeing with them, we said it doesn't matter to me what anyone, including the President, does in private as long as I have a job and the economy is good.
And someone took and published pictures of nude children and made them available on the internet. And we said, they're entitled to their free speech.
And the entertainment industry said, let's make TV shows and movies that promote profanity, violence, and illicit sex. And let's record music that encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide, and satanic themes. And we said, it's just entertainment that has no adverse effect, and nobody takes it seriously anyway so go right ahead.
So, now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long enough and hard enough, we can figure it out. Maybe it has to do with "we reap what we sow."
Clarence Schultz
U.S. Navy Chaplain (retired)