Guess our national leaders didn’t expect this, hmm?

On Thursday, Darrell Scott, the father of Rachel Scott, a victim of the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado, was invited to address the House Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee.

What he said to our national leaders during this special session of Congress was painfully truthful. They were not prepared for what he was to say, nor was it received well.

It needs to be heard by every parent, every teacher, every politician, every sociologist, every psychologist, and every “expert!” These courageous words spoken by Darrell Scott are powerful, penetrating, and deeply personal. 

The following is a portion of the transcript”:

Darrell Scott Testimony

“Since the dawn of creation there has been both good & evil in the hearts of men and women. We all contain the seeds of kindness or the seeds of violence. The death of my wonderful daughter, Rachel Joy Scott, and the deaths of that heroic teacher, and the other eleven children who died must not be in vain. Their blood cries out for answers.

“The first recorded act of violence was when Cain slew his brother Abel out in the field. The villain was not the club he used. Neither was it the NCA, the National Club Associa tion. The true killer was Cain, and the reason for the murder could only be found in Cain’s heart.

“In the days that followed the Columbine tragedy, I was amazed at how quickly fingers began to be pointed at groups such as the NRA. I am not a member of the NRA. I am not a hunter. I do not even own a gun. I am not here to represent or defend the NRA - because I don’t believe that they are responsible for my daughter’s death. Therefore I do not believe that they need to be defended. If I believed they had anything to do with Rachel’s murder I would be their strongest opponent.

I am here today to declare that Columbine was not just a tragedy-it was a spiritual event that should be forcing us to look at where the real blame lies! Much of the blame lies here in this room. Much of the blame lies behind the pointing fingers of the accusers themselves. “I wrote a poem just four nights ago that expresses my feelings best. This was written way before I knew I would be speaking here today:

Your laws ignore our deepest needs,
Your words are empty air.
You’ve stripped away our heritage,
You’ve outlawed simple prayer.
Now gunshots fill our classrooms,
And precious children die.
You seek for answers everywhere,
And ask the question “Why?”
You regulate restrictive laws,
Through legislative creed.
And yet you fail to understand,
That God is what we need!

“Men and women are three-part beings. We all consist of body, mind, and spirit. When we refuse to acknowledge a third part of our make-up, we create a void that allows evil, prejudice, and hatred to rush in and reek havoc. Spiritual presences were present within our educational systems for most of our nation’s history. Many of our major colleges began as theological seminaries. This is a historical fact. What has happened to us as a nation? We have refused to honor God, and in so doing, we open the doors to hatred and violence. And when something as terrible as Columbine’s tragedy occurs — politicians immediately lo ok for a scapegoat such as the NRA. They immediately seek to pass more restrictive laws that contribute to erode away our personal and private liberties. We do not need more restrictive laws.

“Eric and Dylan would not have been stopped by metal detectors. No amount of gun laws can stop someone who spends months planning this type of massacre. The real villain lies within our own hearts.

“As my son Craig lay under that table in the school library and saw his two friends murdered before his very eyes-He did not hesitate to pray in school. I defy any law or politician to deny him that right! I challenge every young person in America , and around the world, to realize that on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School prayer was brought back to our schools. Do not let the many prayers offered by those students be in vain. Dare to move into the new millennium with a sacred disregard for legi slation that violates your God-given right to communicate with Him. To those of you who would point your finger at the NRA - I give to you a sincere challenge. Dare to examine your own heart before casting the first stone!

My daughter’s death will not be in vain! The young people of this country will not allow that to happen!”

As you can guess the mainstream media did not cover his speech. It is not “politically correct.”

It is true that it is what is in each individual’s heart and mind that is the key to wether or not they use violence abusively — with or without a weapon.

Controlling weapons, or knowledge, or sports of any sort will not control what is in an individuals soul. It is very limited in it’s practicality.

So then if that doesn’t work, what if we mandated everyone to go to therapy?

That wouldn’t work either. Since it has LONG been shown that therapy is only effective if the client wants it and desires to create positive change in their lives.

We can’t truely “make” others “better.”

We can only assist them to assist themsleves.

So the bottom line is that we cannot control whether or not someone has abusive tendencies in their heart.

We cannot “fix” them.

Taking away every weapon in the world won’t work, for abusers and murderers will only use stones and sticks, or their bare hands instead.

Trying to force them to change won’t work. If we could control it we would already live in a society free of sexual, physical and emotional abuse, murder, trauma, torture, and war.

This is the bottom line that is so uncomfortable for people to admit. There is no way to control it. The police can only do so much, laws can only do so much.

So some who don’t want to admit that they can’t control it all by force of will alone, try to blame certain weapons, or certain people so they can create the illusion of control. Then they can pretend that they are doing something about it to make the world better. And then they are frustrated and angry when it doesn’t seem to work.

Well it doesn’t work, because to truely fix any problem they must find the root of it, and with the problem of abusive violence there is no way to control or fix it.

This doesn’t mean we are victims either though!

We can control ourselves. 

We can heal the pain in our lives so that we don’t pass on a legacy of suffering.

We can pass on our stories and wisdom to friends, children, grandchildren, and others so they can learn from us, and perhaps heal themselves.

We can learn to use violence as a tool, and use it wisely.

We can stop abusers and murderers if they try to hurt us, preventing suffering and agony.

Proper use of it (using violence with strength, fortitude, compassion, deciveness, courage, and wisdom) creates safety, freedom, protection, peace and confidence.

Using it in such a wise way we are creating a world that is good to live in. And isn’t that what we all want in the end? Yes.

Eldra

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