This week, a frequent visitor to the Kirkwood Missouri City Council opened fire in council chambers, killing five participants and wounding the town's mayor and a reporter. Normally, I would have kept turning the pages of my newspaper, shaking my head at our crazy world. But the story hit close to home for me. My college junior daughter, a journalism student at Mizzou, recently interned for the city newspaper in Columbia, Missouri, where she covered the city beat. She frequently attended council meetings, interviewing the mayor, council members, and citizens coming before the council. She even traveled around town with one candidate, covering the election from his perspective (which for a while caused a stir in her sorority when someone, not knowing her mission, saw her running around town with an older man). When Columbia's news involved neighboring towns, including the state capital Jefferson City, she followed the story to those locations.
My intrepid reporter was never in danger, but it makes me stop for a moment. As we send these high achieving Lake Highlands grads out into the big, wide, wonderful world, can we ever be sure they will be safe? Granted, they are in more danger on LBJ than at a Missouri city council meeting, but it makes a mom hold her breath and say a prayer.
Since America's inception in 1776 and before, God has had his hand of blessing and protection upon this country. This shooting serves as another example of God's hand being lifted, little by little, step by step. I believe our nation is reaping what we have sown. Little by little and step by step, we have done our darnedest to throw God out of the courtroom and classroom, the bedroom and boardroom. This downward spiral officially began in 1947 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Everson v. Board of Education. In it, they came up with what I would call "quintessential stupidity" when they destroyed the intended meaning of the famous words written by Thomas Jefferson: "separation of church and state." This was followed by Madelyn Murray O'Hare, Engel v. Vitale, and the elimination of prayer in public schools in 1962. A harbinger of these things occurred in 1925 with the Scope's Monkey trial. The common denominator in all of this is a diabolical group known as the American Civil Liberties Union, which must be credited with firing the first shot that triggered the avalanche of manure that now raises its stench all across our land. They knew the fastest way to bring about change was through the courts, thereby bypassing the executive and legislative branches of government. In our present system of government, good and decent politicians seem powerless to do anything radically constructive. The church seems more concerned about maintaining the status quo. Many respectable pastors have abandoned their roles as prophetic voices and given themselves over to worshipping their tax exempt status. Some science teachers have given up their free speech by teaching evolution without the balance of creationism or intelligent design. Many school administrators have failed to draw a line in the sand by not standing up against the onslaught of political correctness. While evil triumphs and shootings continue, we have become a nation of pusillanimous wimps. ...May God have mercy!
Posted by: Craig Claybrook | February 09, 2008 at 11:01 AM