[1]COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (BP)–The culture of death that fueled the Columbine massacre “continues to flourish,” Focus on the Family’s James Dobson said April 13 in a statement circulated nationally by PRNewswire.
Twelve students and a teacher were killed and numerous others were wounded by two classmates at Columbine High School, Littleton, Colo., April 20, 1999.
“We’ve seen virtually no change in society’s glorification of death and violence,” Dobson said. “If anything, we’ve witnessed a rise in the barrage of dark, hopeless and annihilative images and words churned out by TV, movies, music, Internet websites and video games.
“When will America wake up to the reality that media moguls are more concerned about their bottom line than they are about ravaging the hearts and souls of an entire generation?” Dobson asked.
Dobson also took note of the cheapening of human worth, citing the sale of fetal body parts and that “life — in the womb and outside of the womb — can be legally snuffed out in the name of personal freedom and convenience.”
“When death is an accepted and natural part of everyday existence, is it any wonder that many teens don’t see snatching a life as any different than ripping off a car stereo?” Dobson stated.
[2]“As long as the cultural elite can keep our nation focused on a red herring like gun control, they relieve parents from the responsibility of healing empty hearts, wounded spirits and the numbed consciences that lie behind these senseless acts of violence,” Dobson continued.
“If America persists in trumpeting a philosophy that excludes notions of absolute right and wrong, Columbine-like violence will likely happen again and again. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold [Columbine’s teen killers who then committed suicide that day] didn’t develop a taste for murder and mayhem in a vacuum; they were heavily influenced by what we as a society taught them.”
Dobson noted that the days when the culture shielded children from harmful images and exploitation are long gone.
“Today if you offer solutions reflecting morality and decency, you’re called an ‘alarmist,’ a ‘censor’ and told to keep your ‘intolerant’ beliefs out of the public square,” Dobson said.
“How many more children will kill children before parents wake up and defy a system that exalts economic prosperity and personal freedom over maintaining healthy marriages and families? When will society see the consequences of worshiping ‘celebrity’ at the expense of goodness and truth? And finally, in the aftermath of Columbine, what reasons do we give our children to live; how have we conveyed their inestimable worth as human beings created in the image of God?”
Dobson counseled: “Let’s vow today to set the highest standards of ethics and morality for our children, and to protect them, as much as possible, from the darkness around us. We can’t make America perfect, but we can make it a much better and safer place through prayer, sensitivity and a renewed commitment to the principles upon which this republic was founded.”