Dakota Beacon

Times are changing in oh so many ways -- technologically, economically, educationally. Change imposes itself so fast that keeping up with the changes becomes impossible. One of the most evident changes is the cultural breakdown we see daily as evidenced by violence and incivility across cities and states. Consuming snippets of news may be entertaining or distracting, but crime statistics paint a realistic and comprehensive picture of who we have become.

Since 1999 there have been 386 school shootings. In the same period, there have been twenty-three fatal church shootings killing 99 people.

A notable example of a church shooting occurred in November 2017 in Sutherland Springs, TX, during morning worship at the First Baptist Church. Twenty-six people were killed, and twenty others were injured. Devin Patrick Kelley, the shooter, fired seven hundred rounds during the 11-minute attack. The shooting was captured on a camera set up at the back of the church to record regular services for uploading online. Kelley was encountered and shot three times by a church neighbor. Kelley later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

According to LifewayResearch (June 6, 2023) (https://research.lifeway.com/), 81% of Protestant pastors say their church has some type of security directive in place. Additionally:

            57% intentionally have a plan for countering an active shooter,

            54% have armed church members,

            21% have a “no firearms” policy,

            20% have armed private security,

              5% have uniformed police on site,

              1% use metal detectors at the entrance.

No. This is not an issue about guns and gun control. Guns do not shoot people. People shoot people. This is an issue about crime and illegal behavior. Furthermore, there is growing evidence about the reticence of individuals to control their actions from the inside out as measured by longstanding cultural criteria. In this example, the classification of “active church shooter” becomes one more indicator of a culture in decline, a culture in search of its moral moorings.

In the end, the behavior of every individual is a choice guided by…what? In a sinister sense, behavior results from the internal effect of civil norms and moral standards. Bad social behavior, in large part, results from a collective repudiation or dismissal, consciously or unconsciously, of these same long-held norms and standards which were inculcated from generation to generation. In their absence, what fills the void? Short answer: Everyone does that which is right in his or her own eyes.

As the old saying goes, “You pays your money, and you takes your choice.”

An allegorical way to view our cultural decline would be a parallel to Shakespeare’s description of the seven ages of a person in his play “As You Like It.”

            “All the world’s a stage,

            And all the men and women merely players,

            They have their exits and entrances…”

The Bard’s description concludes enigmatically with the final stage.

            “…Last scene of all,

            That ends this strange eventful history,

            Is second childishness and mere oblivion,

            Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”

Wittingly or unwittingly, the die has been cast. Collectively accepting a progressive revision of our thinking about right and wrong has produced a deviation from the old standards. Unintended consequences are the result. And here we are. No lectures needed from this quarter. Time has come to prepare for, or at least consider, a church emergency plan in response to an active shooter situation.

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).