Minnesota School Shootings

On March 21, 2005, 16-yr-old Jeff Weise allegedly killed his grandfather and grandfather's companion in Red Lake, Minnesota. Then he drove to school where he killed a teacher, a security guard, five students, and finally himself.

Of thirty-seven school shootings since 1996 in which students shot their classmates, most shooters were ages 14-17. The most common age was 14. Approximately one-third turned their guns on themselves and ended their own lives as well.

The fact that so many people who go on rampages also kill themselves suggests that they are driven by self-hate and lash out at those who made them hate themselves. They are often victims of bullying - singled out because of their personal appearance, or the way they talk or act, or because they come from a different place.

When judgmental religion is part of the fabric of society, people learn from the beginning to reject others who look, act or believe differently. The targets of that rejection often end up hating themselves as much as they hate their tormentors.

Teenagers must be held accountable even though they cannot understand or cope with their world. Parents and teachers, however, share the blame when they fail to teach children that the most important thing in life is to learn to accept others and not judge.

According to the Bible, God will ultimately hold the world's religious leaders responsible for failing to teach people that all God ever wanted was for people to treat others as they would want to be treated themselves.

Related reading: Love Thyself