I am so very sad about what happened in Las Vegas Sunday night. What would drive someone to take sport in mass murder? This is a terrible act and the person who chose to do this must have been numb to the value of human life.
For the past few days, in a paradoxical and refreshing kind of way, the news has been highlighting the good within this horrific tragedy. There have been reports of folks risking their lives for each other and helping strangers. Family members have hitched rides and hoped on planes to visit their loved ones still recovering in hospitals in the Las Vegas area. My heart goes out to the traumatized folks who attended the concert and the people in agony knowing they had loved ones in the midst of the crisis.
This tragedy is going to be realized and felt for years and years. We can all agree that what happened in Las Vegas on Sunday night was horrific. And, we could more than likely agree that none of us want to see this happen again.
The scale of carnage that took place during the Las Vegas attack is overwhelming, yet it seems we have been witnessing massacres with a high level of frequency. If you don’t remember how bad it has gotten, on Monday, the Los Angeles Times posted an article titled: Deadliest U.S. mass shootings, 1984-2017
I read through the LA Times list and felt sick to my stomach. It is hard to believe that we have gone through so much tragedy in such a short time, and the worst part?.. all this loss of life has been intentional. Every victim in such catastrophes has been sadistically exterminated.
In fact, most of the victims never knew their killer, and most of the killers never knew their victims. Conscious and intentional extermination of human life has taken place at these tragic events. The ultimate goal of the shooters has been to end as many human lives as possible, much like an exterminator.
Las Vegas and so many of these massacres shock us because it truly does feel similar to an exterminator attempting to wipe out as many insects as possible. Human life is so precious and we become appalled at the idea of someone systematically killing humans as if they were an infestation of ants.
But why is there a difference between a human life and a bug’s life? Why do we give the name “psychopath” to gun-wheedling-murders, but we say that someone working for a pest control company is a nice guy with a good job?
We, as a society, believe there is a difference between killing a person and killing a bug, yet this is not what we teach our young people.
We, as a society, have made laws designed to punish murderers, but we do not teach our young people to value human life.
You might be a good parent and be teaching your children to value others, but they are are not getting that from the media nor from science class.
This article is not about the media, but I do have to say the coverage of such events glamorizes such horrific acts and perpetuates the copycat problem. The media needs to change the way these types of tragedies are covered.
John Lennon’s murder just wanted to be famous, and he knew the media would eat it up. In fact, he has been denied parole ten times on the grounds of how he, “admittedly carefully planned and executed the murder of a world-famous person for no reason other than to gain notoriety. While no one person’s life is any more valuable than another’s life, the fact that you chose someone who was not only a world-renowned person and beloved by millions, regardless of pain and suffering you would cause to his family, friends, and so many others, you demonstrated a callous disregard for the sanctity of human life and the pain and suffering of others. This fact remains a concern to this panel.” source
The issue is one of logic. If energy and matter popped into existence by chance… and if, by accident, life appeared… and if life then evolved, into a tailless, walking ape, due to mistakes and mutations… then you can only be identified as a lucky mistake who woke up to consciousness.
You obviously would have no purpose and no mission.
Your only moment to moment struggle would be to stay alive and reproduce.
Your habits would revolve around acquiring more resources than your competitors… and your competitors are the other lucky, tailless, walking apes that are also trying to stay alive and reproduce.
According to evolution, your life doesn’t matter. According to evolution you are a lucky mistake. According to evolution ALL life on Earth is a lucky mistake, and you are no different than the bug that died on your windshield as you drove to work. In fact, if evolution is true, your life is no more valuable than the chicken you had for dinner last night.
We are shocked in our country when terrible violence and hatred breaks out, yet evolution is required in public schools. This type of thinking is contrary to itself.
The idea that we are here because of a long chain of random mistakes communicates that nothing matters other than beating the competition.
If evolution is true, our lives can be summed up the same way Carl Sagan describes. “We are star stuff which has taken its destiny into its own hands.” According to evolutionary experts, we are just cosmic dust that randomly, and by mistake, emerged into existence. Seriously, according to an accurate understanding of evolution… that’s it… human life has no more value than bugs or dust.
SO, WHAT CAN BE DONE?
The reoccurring issue of mass extermination deserves our attention, but it also deserves action.
Unfortunately, there is no “silver bullet” solution.
If we could question the core tenets of evolution within the the required curriculum and have deep conversations about the idea of human life having more value than bugs and dust.
Increasing security in our modern lives will not solve this problem. Taking a look at gun laws will not solve the problem either.
The problem is within the individual’s philosophical disposition toward human life, their own life, and their victims’ lives. If we are successful, perhaps no one will even think of doing such a crime because of their high value for human life.
It’s obvious that evolution degrades our understanding of the value of human life, and scientific studies are giving us empirical data that confirms this problem. A joint effort between Arizona State, UC Berkeley, and Stanford studied groups of people who do or do not subscribe to evolutionary theory, and the data shows that all “groups viewed the consequences of accepting evolutionary principles in a way that might be considered undesirable: increased selfishness and racism, decreased spirituality, and a decreased sense of purpose and self‐determination.” – source
Not only does evolution have negative philosophical impacts, but did you know that evolution is also unable to meet the criteria of science and unable to meet the criteria of what can be legally taught in public schools?
In my book, I explore why these claims are true and back them up with study after study. No opinions required, just facts.
Download a fee sample of WHAT IS EVOLUTION?