Why Not?

     If the Newtown, Connecticut parents are anything like me, there are wrapped gifts under their Christmas trees for children who will not be there to open them. There are dates circled on calendars for recitals and programs, most of which are cancelled, and few would have the heart to attend anyway. In place of those joyfully anticipated events, they will be attending funerals. Instead of Christmas cards, parents are writing eulogies. Along with Advent activities, pastors are arranging funerals. Candles for Christmas and candles for mourning melt together. We want to know why.
     At a time in which mass murder/suicides are becoming uncomfortably common, the Newtown elementary school shootings are even more inexplicable.  No motive. No connection. The shooter left behind no explanation for the slaughter of so many innocent children and teachers.  They conclude the killer had a "personality disorder", a psychological spectrum so broad as to be meaningless.  Basically, the term means a behavior against societal norms, putting a person who wants to marry their toaster and a mass murderer in the same category. Perhaps the question is not why, but why not?
     What is different from when I was in school? Not the guns, rifles were openly displayed in the gun racks of pickups in the parking lot. Not bullying, but it was done in person, instead of texting or computer.  Alcohol, the nectar of popularity, fueled sex and fighting and despair just like the drugs of today. Why didn't we shoot first and commit suicide later?  I think it was because, whether or not we knew God, we had a vague suspicion that we might run into Him after we died and that He might not be happy with us.  In other words, we were afraid of God.
     When my son's roommate said he was an atheist, Will's response was, "Then why shouldn't I kill you?" Good question. If the only restraint on behavior is criminal penalty, and you are planning to kill yourself anyway, if there is no life beyond death and no judgment for what we do here, why not do whatever you want, even if that means killing children? In the Bible, fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It is also the answer, it is the why not. We should not kill people, including ourselves, because God exists and will hold us accountable for what we do on earth. It is a concept so basic even someone with "personality disorder" can understand.
    Even if we could understand the reason, and all mass murderers had the same motivation, we cannot barricade ourselves and our children from random acts of violence. We cannot remove all weapons nor lock up all potentially dangerous people. Our only protection is to cling to, live out, and share the truth that there is a God and we will all answer to Him. The Newtown murderer will answer for the destruction he caused.  God will make the why not eternally evident.