CURSES

Our country is wrestling with finding the crux of the problem that is causing mass murders.  I have my own idea.  It is because no one says "Go to Hell!" any more.

When I was a kid, the number one curse to put on someone was to wish them to Hell.  I just don't hear it these days.  Not even in the movies, where they say anything.

"Go to Hell!" has been replaced by much less serious curses.  The most popular is a wish that someone has intercourse - not exactly a curse depending on the associated instructions.

So what does all this tell me?  The most obvious is that there either is no Hell or people are not afraid of it.  Do kids know anything about Hell?  Is our society so intent on protecting the young that they shield them from knowledge of Hell?  Maybe this goes hand in hand with the mindset that gives every child in sports a participation trophy.  If there are no losers, there need not be a Hell.

I'm not sure my church really believes in it -  it's seldom mentioned.  The emphasis on the black or white ending to life - Heaven or Hell - is fading.  Maybe the bar has been set so low that Hell is a remote notion to those in church.  I'm sorry if that is a bad take but one could easily reach it.

If you dig further into this line of thought, you discover that there must be no God in much of our society.  "God is good - Hell is bad."  That's it, without God, there is no need for Hell.  It is useless to curse someone to Hell.  It either doesn't exist or isn't too bad.  Just like God; either He doesn't exist or isn't too demanding. 

I think our country will not recover from this rash of murders for a generation and only then, if we put God back into our country and into our lives.

God Bless America!