Killer Adam Lanza has been described as mentally ill, a victim himself, a troubled person, and even a monster.  The one thing I have not heard is that he was a murderer.  He murdered his mother, he murdered twenty children, he murdered six adults, and then he murdered himself. Murder has disappeared from our vocabulary.

Now that the last body has been buried from the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, it may be safe to say a few things that would have been inappropriate in the midst of the sorrow and sadness that all of us have endured.  My wife and I suffered grief and literally shed tears over the death of these young children and adults.  I have watched the news closely.  I watched the special service on Sunday Evening when President Obama spoke at the local high school in Sandy Hook.   The funerals are over and maybe it’s time to say a few things that would have been unfitting in the midst of a crisis.

First, I have heard many descriptions of the killer Adam Lanza.  He has been described as mentally ill, a victim himself, a troubled person, and even a monster (by Geraldo Rivera).  The one thing I have not heard is that he was a murderer.  He murdered his mother, he murdered twenty children, he murdered six adults, and then he murdered himself. Adam Lanza knew the difference between right and wrong.  Every time he saw a police car on the highway in Sandy Hook, he was reminded that there is a right and a wrong.  He was dominated by the power of hate and therefore he committed murder.  Murder is a biblical term that is not used anymore in America.  It has disappeared from our vocabulary.

Secondly, as I listened to the Scriptures being read to the general public at the special Sunday Evening Service, I can only think that the world has high-jacked the word of God.  Not only did the world steal Christmas (if you believe in Christmas) and make it into something it was never intended to be, but the world is also trying to steal the Holy Scriptures.   For example, during the Memorial Service, President Obama quoted 2 Corinthians 4:16, “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.”  The Apostle Paul wrote this to Christians as they struggle with sanctification.  The word of God is constantly being misappropriated in the public square.

Thirdly, as I watched the composition of the clergy speaking at these services, I understood better why America is changing.  I am reminded of the maxim that when everyone has his own truth, then no one really has any truth.  When everyone is right, then no one is right.  Once, Christianity dominated American culture as Christians permeated the public square.  Islam was a false religion, and a danger to a Christian land.  Christian leaders now sit at the table as equal partners with every false religion in the world.  Religious pluralism has replaced Christianity in this country and now it even has the sanction of the Church.

As I heard the Bible being read in a public high school I was reminded that the Bible has been expelled from the secular schools for many years.  It appeared to me to be a contradiction for men and women to be reading the Bible in a state school building.  Now that the last body of the Sandy Hook massacre has been buried, intolerance of biblical Christianity will be quickly resurrected.

Lastly, let us remember that politicians cannot legislate goodness in men’s hearts.   More laws in a democratic state will not make us more safe.  Security in public places will either come from tyranny or from the liberty of the Christian faith.  Is there some connection between the deaths in Sandy Hook and the decline of Christianity in America?  We legalized the murder of children in the womb forty years ago, and now we wonder why all this is happening.   Just something to think about.

Larry E. Ball is a retired Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America and a CPA. He lives in Fleming Island, Florida.