...we already knew that following these horrific slaughters that the media would blame President Trump, the NRA, and the second amendment. However, the one word we’re not hearing is — virtue. Virtue has been pushed off of television, out of the movie theaters, and even out of the public square... As such, morality is up for grabs, this is the breakdown of our civil society. Virtue, morality, and faith cannot be legislated. We should celebrate morality and virtue for only faith and a commitment to law and order [stops] acts such as these, not more government. ...maybe we should get back to tried and true morals and values that reinforce our society as a whole. ~ Mark Levin, 8/5/19In the wake of these horrific mass shootings, we receive the same, tiresome wash-rinse-repeat pattern of media and politician alike: the demagoguery of gun control calls that will further disarm the law-abiding while the law-breakers ignore, the constant racialization of the 'white' mass shooter while ignoring inner city and overall gun violence statistics that point to the contrary, and the further propagandizing of always blaming the Right when there are overwhelming linkages to the Left. But as tired and predictable as these reactions have become, Selwyn Duke expands much in the same way that Levin does above, "In truth, the main underlying cause of increased mass-murder events -- and so much evil in general -- is a severe philosophical/spiritual malaise besetting our nation."
Duke begins walking us down this deteriorating path with the soulless breakdown of psychology in its 19th century divorce from philosophy to deem it a science, thus decimating the very existence of morality and culminating into what's often referred to as moral relativism, which inevitably leads to moral nihilism...
And I think most of us are all too familiar with where feelings-over-facts have gotten us in the 21st century: confused, angry and divided. So it stands to reason that if emotions hold sway, then perhaps it's worth looking into what shapes these feelings. And despite kickback across the spectrum of political thought, Duke poses considerations of contributing factors to our moral decay...For if man’s “values,” which really are just people’s preferences, are all there is, then morality doesn’t actually exist.
This idea has swept society, as evidenced by a Barna Group research company study I often cite. It found that, in 2002 already, a minority of Americans and only six percent of teens believed in Truth (absolute by definition), with a majority saying, quite oxymoronically, “Truth is relative.”
Forget Protagoras [“Man is the measure of all things.”], the problem with this is that it also boils down to occultist Aleister Crowley’s maxim, “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.” Moral relativism/nihilism is the ultimate justification. Rape, kill, steal -- commit mass murder? Who’s to say it’s wrong? Don’t impose your values on me, dude.
This moral relativism/nihilism -- along, of course, with the godlessness of which it’s a corollary -- is our deep cultural malaise. It has been encouraged by modern psychology and so many other things; it is why, while we once viewed misbehavior and criminality as moral problems, we now consider them psychological problems. In other words, the organic robot is malfunctioning, a result of a defect in its hardware (genetics) or software (programming).
Translation: Forget that mythical thing called morality; we need to find out what kind of chemical intervention or programming alteration (or future gene therapy) can correct the machine’s operation.
This cultural malaise is devastating. Stop believing in something (i.e., morality) and you’ll cease learning about it; this is why most today can’t explain what virtues (“good moral habits”) are, let alone enumerate any great number of them (charity, diligence, chastity, honesty, prudence, etc.).
Moreover, if you neither believe in nor understand something, it follows that you’ll have neither the inclination nor capacity to teach it. Is it any surprise, then, that moderns are doing such a poor job imparting morality to children?
Returning for a moment to the El Paso shooter, do you want to bet that he and his father aren’t part of the morally relativistic/nihilistic majority? How likely is it that dad provided old-fashioned discipline and inculcated his son with virtue?
Interestingly, I’ve long pointed out that when people can no longer reference Truth when making moral decisions, the only yardstick they have left is emotion. Ergo, the modern credo, “If it feels good, do it.” Barna’s study vindicated this, mind you, finding that most Americans now “base their moral choices on feelings.”
Just consider, for instance, the mindless, gratuitous violence; prurient sexuality; and morally nihilistic messages in modern movies and television programs.While those are certainly considerations, again, the bottom line comes down to morality, or a lack thereof...or, even more precisely, to a lack of belief in it.
Note something else also, and this is where I get pushback even from conservatives and (especially) libertarians, as it slaughters many people’s sacred entertainment cows and, they fear, may imply censorship’s necessity. Studies have shown that 15 years after television’s introduction -- and this is true the world over -- crime increased precipitously. (I explored this in-depth here.) Now consider that the Internet is TV10.
Video games are a factor as well (and this is where I really get pushback). Lt. Col. David Grossman, one of the world’s foremost experts on what he calls “killology,” contends that simulated video-game participatory violence (and the extreme violence on TV) amount to the kind of conditioning/desensitization used to inure soldiers to killing.
Then, of course, with mass shootings there’s also the psychotropic-medication factor and the copycat phenomenon. As to the latter, in a morally relativistic/nihilistic world where all is vanity, mass murder can be an alluring ticket to fame for those wallowing in meaninglessness.
Note here that the six percent of 2002 teens who believed in Truth simply reflect a pattern, as each succeeding generation is more relativistic/nihilistic than the last. This also corresponds to the generational increase in wickedness. It’s as strong a correlation as you’ll find anywhere.
Say what you will about TV, the Internet, video games, violence, or mass murder, it can’t be right or wrong if there is no right or wrong. It’s the ultimate self-evident reality: How can you build a moral society when its shades-of-gray people don’t even believe in morality?
As God and morality are purged from all our institutions, darkness, chaos, evil, and violence grow to fill in the gap. There is no political solution or regulation that will stop these evildoers. Only more armed law-abiding citizens and a true spiritual and moral revival will help reduce these atrocities and protect innocent lives. ...God help us to recover the virtue so desperately needed again.
We are now reaping the results of rejecting God and His moral laws, truth, and wisdom.
ALMIGHTY God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage; We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favour and glad to do thy will. Bless our land with honourable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogancy, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail...Related links: Mass shootings: What is and is not capable of political solutions
...Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions. Take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatsoever else may hinder us from godly, union and concord: that as there is but one Body and one Spirit, and one hope of our calling, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may be all of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Mass shootings: The unicorn gun control policy as the magic solution
"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indespensible supports. It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government." ~ George Washington
"We may look up to armies for our defense, but virtue is our best security. It is not possible that any state should long remain free where virtue is not supremely honored." ~ Samuel Adams
"Virtue must underlay all institutional arrangements if they are to be healthy and strong. The principles of democracy are easily destroyed as human nature is corrupted." ~ John Adams
Related links: Levin: America doesn’t need ‘more laws, more government.’ It needs more virtue
Levin, Limbaugh, the Left & Media, and Mass Shootings
