Sadly, I have posted this essay six times now since 2015. Why are we so trapped in this death-making culture? ~ CK
The Fires of Moloch Are Burning
Moreover he burnt
incense in the valley of Ben Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire,
after the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.
2
Chronicles 28:3
And
they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of Ben Hinnom, to cause their sons and their
daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not,
neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination
Jeremiah
32:35
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| Illustration from Foster Bible Pictures Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons |
Moloch was the ancient Phoenician and Canaanite god known in
the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy for the practice of propitiatory child
sacrifice. There are few images more
horrifying than that of fearful people offering up their own children to be
burned on the altar of a domineering death-making god. Yet we are seeing the
fires of Moloch burning in 21st century America.
We have seen this week yet another disturbing incident of
promising lives brought to a sudden end by gun violence. Once again there is talk
of stronger gun control laws, yet we are impotent to make any changes. Our
failure to act even in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre in which 20 young children were killed, all of them 6 and 7 years old, demonstrated that we
would rather sacrifice our beautiful preschoolers than do anything that
might be perceived as a desecration of the Bill of Rights. Our words say that we
honor American freedom, while our actions say that we live in fear and have so
little regard for our children that we will willingly feed them to our modern day fires of
Moloch. [To see a map of all the mass shooting since Sandy Hook, go here]
In a country whose politicians love to shout “God Bless
America!” at the end of their speeches, and whose people speak of faith in the
public square and argue about putting the Ten Commandments on display, it is
the ancient and brutal god Moloch who holds sway over so much of our public discourse. Indeed
the fires of Moloch continue to consume our children while nothing is done to
extinguish those flames.
Why Do We Tolerate Death and Glorify Violence?
According to The Brady Center, “Over 18,000 American
children and teens are injured or killed each year due to gun violence. This
means nearly 48 youth are shot every day, including 7 fatalities.”
And here are some more statistics from The Brady Center:
America has a problem with gun violence
·
One
in three people in the U.S. know someone who has been shot.
·
On
average, 31 Americans are murdered with guns every day and 151 are treated for
a gun assault in an emergency room.
·
Every
day on average, 55 people kill themselves with a firearm, and 46 people are
shot or killed in an accident with a gun.
·
The
U.S. firearm homicide rate is 20 times higher than the combined rates of 22
countries that are our peers in wealth and population.
·
A
gun in the home is 22 times more likely to be used to kill or injure in a
domestic homicide, suicide, or unintentional shooting than to be used in
self-defense.
Gun Violence Takes a Massive Toll on American Children
·
More
than one in five U.S. teenagers (ages 14 to 17) report having witnessed a
shooting.
·
An
average of seven children and teens under the age of 20 are killed by guns
every day.
·
American
children die by guns 11 times as often as children in other high-income
countries.
·
Youth
(ages 0 to 19) in the most rural U.S. counties are as likely to die from a
gunshot as those living in the most urban counties. Rural children die of more
gun suicides and unintentional shooting deaths. Urban children die more often
of gun homicides.
·
Firearm
homicide is the second-leading cause of death (after motor vehicle crashes) for
young people ages 1-19 in the U.S.
·
In
2007, more pre-school-aged children (85) were killed by guns than police
officers were killed in the line of duty.
Gun Violence is a Drain on U.S. Taxpayers
·
Medical
treatment, criminal justice proceedings, new security precautions, and
reductions in quality of life are estimated to cost U.S. citizens $100 billion
annually.
·
The
lifetime medical cost for all gun violence victims in the United States is
estimated at $2.3 billion, with almost half the costs borne by taxpayers.
Americans Support
Universal Background Checks
·
Nine
out of 10 Americans agree that we should have universal background checks,
including three out of four NRA members.
·
Since
the Brady Law was initially passed, about 2 million attempts to purchase
firearms have been blocked due to a background check. About half of these blocked
attempts were by felons.
·
Unfortunately,
our current background check system only applies to about 60% of gun sales,
leaving 40% (online sales, purchases at gun shows, etc.) without a background
check.
One question we must answer is why does our society so quickly come to the defense of guns after every deadly incident of gun violence? There are those who call for change, but such calls are always met with a push back from people who cannot tolerate any change in our gun laws. Lawmakers are forever paralyzed by the gun lobbyists and the fear-mongers.
Freedom or Fear?
Why are our citizens and our politicians are unable to put a
stop to gun violence? If there were the political will, assault rifles and
semi-automatic weapons could be banned tomorrow. The sad fact is, however, that
our people seem to be too fearful to consider a peaceful society. We say that we are
honoring the Second Amendment to the Constitution – that we hold the Bill of Rights
to ensure our freedom – but the truth is, we live in fear. Why else would we be so
powerless to stop our current practice of sacrificing children to the fires of
gun violence?
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| Poster from The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence |
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| Picture depicting worship of Moloch from The Jewish Encyclopedia |
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