Look Up, It’s Not Okay

Why does no one really talk about this? These stories have become background noise in a world too busy to be troubled by tragedy. Sure, our thoughts and prayers go out to the families—but what about the prayers of the kids who were kneeling when the shooting started? Where was their God then?

If you were an outsider looking in on a “Christian nation,” with no prior knowledge of its beliefs, you would expect the breaking point to be when someone harmed its children in a place of sanctuary. In any other story, this would be the moment where the citizens rallied to make an effective change.

Sadly, this is where we turn away. A nation of people who vehemently cling to the right to be “happy” cannot openly discuss things this raw. We keep staring at our phones, pressing the dopamine button. Make me happy! As far as I’m concerned, silence is complicity.

This can happen anywhere, but this is the only “developed” country where it happens on a regular basis. If you’ve dropped your kids off at school anytime over the past twenty years and haven’t felt a flicker of fear, I don’t know where you live. Personally, I’m tired of feeling like I’ve dropped my kids off in a war zone when they’re just excited to go play.

The Data of the “Sanctuary”:

• The Frequency: Between 2013 and 2022, there were 720 incidents of gunfire on the grounds of U.S. preschools or K-12 schools.
• The Human Cost: From 2000 to 2022, there were 328 casualties in active shooter incidents at U.S. elementary and secondary schools. In the 2020-21 school year alone, there were 41 school-associated violent deaths.
• The Global Outlier: A 2024 report noted that the U.S. had 109 public mass shootings compared to a combined total of 35 across 35 other comparable countries between 2000 and 2022.

Be angry. Cry if you need to. But do something—speak up, do something tangible. Since Columbine in 1999, we’ve offered “thoughts and prayers.” I’m not going to tell you what to believe or argue about your faith, but wisdom says you’d better bring a shovel if you want to move a mountain.