Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Recent shooting in Ohio highlights important social issues of our time.

Parents of teen accused of shootings faced charges

The recent tragedy in Chardon, Ohio paints an all too familiar picture. Three students are now dead after high schooler TJ Lane opened fire on fellow students in the high school cafeteria on Monday.

One quote I would like to highlight from the above article.

The father, Thomas Lane Jr., was known to county authorities because of a series of arrests for abusing women in his life, court records show. It's not clear how much contact the father and son had.

This boy came from a broken home. In some ways worse than having no father at all, he grew up with a violent father. And a violent mother adds more icing to the cake.

The bottom line is that the family is and has been deteriorating in this country for quite some time and those who speak up in support of the family are ridiculed in the public square. You don't have to be a Christian or even a person of any faith to understand that a child raised in a broken home will end up with problems.

But between 1995 and 1997, the boy's father and mother, Sara A. Nolan, were each charged with domestic violence against each other.


The father was later charged with assaulting a police officer and served time in prison after trying to suffocate another woman he married several years after his son was born, according to court records.


He held the woman's head under running water and bashed it into a wall, leaving a dent in the drywall, court records show.

TJ Lane was born into a home more dangerous than just a fatherless home. He was born into a home where the (supposed to be) most influential role model in his life was a violent abuser of women. Is it any wonder why the boy who killed his fellow students this week turned out this way?


-On March 21st, 2005 Jeffrey Weise shot and killed 9 people and then shot himself at Red Lake Senior High School in Minnesota. He grew up without his father, to an alcoholic and abusive mother.

-On March 5th, 2001 Charles Andrew Williams shot and killed 2 students at Santana High School in California. He grew up without any contact with his mother.

-On September 29th, 2006 Eric Hainstock entered Weston High School with a revolver and a shotgun and killed school principal John Klang. He grew up with an abusive father and no contact with his mother.

-On February 5th, 1981 Luke Woodham beat his mother to death with a baseball bat before killing 2 more people and injuring 7 with a high powered rifle at Pearl High School in Pearl, Mississippi. He grew up in a verbally abusive home and his father left and never returned when he was 8.

The statistics confirm the correlation between broken homes and violence.


Of course, with all acts of violence there are other factors to take into consideration. Some school shooters are influenced in other ways aside from environment and upbringing, as in the case of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. In such cases where family issues are seemingly non existent other things are shockingly consistent. Most are described as "loners". Most are the victims of bullying. And interestingly enough, most are avid fans of hard rock music. In some cases, Satanic cultism plays a role.

Music lyrics, cult influence, and bullying can all play a role here. But no factor is more important than the home. The upbringing of a child is the seed from which the rest of influences stem. And, not surprisingly, in the vast amount of cases, the high school shooter is the same sad story. The product of a broken home.

To ignore these facts of life is an abomination on our part as a nation and as a society. To paint those who bring these truths to the forefront of the debate as radicals is an even worse absurdity. To let the red herring of "gun control" or the regulation of violent images dominate this issue is a travesty. It all begins in the home and that's where people should start.

3 comments:

Silverfiddle said...

Well said. I've blogged a few times on the importance of marriage and not having kids out of wedlock and the liberals just scream in outrage...

Let's focus on anything and everything but the root of the problem...

Anonymous said...

Fatherhood.

It always, always comes down to fatherhood or the lack thereof. Statistics only scream as evidence of this.

Is it any wonder that Jesus came to us as a Son, speaking solely about His Father, and that the biggest attacks on the family revolve around removing the father from it?

Fatherhood matters.

Is this kid going to get a free-pass for being a murderer? No. And rightly so. But damn...I cannot believe that this wouldn't have happened had his father been a father and not a dick.

Anonymous said...

Fatherhood. It always, always comes down to fatherhood or the lack thereof.

Crime statistics prove it, rogue fatherhood employs it, and single mothers mourn it. Sperm donors ie, boyfriends and absent fathers, are glorified but fathers who care are mocked.

Is it any wonder that God sent His Son? Jesus came to show us Sonship and His father's awesomeness. Liberals, leftists, atheists, and the anti-Jesus crowd in general hate fatherhood, but prefer a more 'social gospel'.

Is this kid innocent? No. He will be held accountable. But his father needs to answer for his son's actions as well.

Biggest targets in America: unborn babies, fatherhood, and morality.