Eighteen
by Mike James
On May 14 in Buffalo, New York, an 18-year-old gunman killed ten people at a supermarket. On May 24, another 18-year-old gunman killed 21 people at a school in Uvalde, Texas. There are a number of issues as to why these events occurred, and I'd like to focus on some of these reasons.
To reiterate, I'm just looking at these two incidents and nothing else. Let's start with the age of both of the shooters. Having been an 18-year-old at one time, I can tell you I had a few crazy thoughts in my mind at that age. Luckily for me, I was also focusing in on the Bible in trying to make sense of the world I was becoming aware of. Science makes it clear our brains are not fully developed until we are about twenty-five years of age. Should we let eighteen-year-olds buy guns, or should we raise the minimum age of purchasing a firearm?
Both of these young men appear to have had issues working on them. The Buffalo shooter was heavily involved in "the Great Replacement theory," which is a racist belief that the white race is being replaced by non-white minorities.
The original theory was written by French author Renaud Camus. Camus's theory focused on elites being involved in changing European populations demographically and culturally with non-white peoples—especially from Muslim majority countries—through mass migration, demographic growth, and a drop in the birth rate of white Europeans.
Racist groups in the United States are slightly altering the theory to make it fit their worldview with a focus on the United States.
The Buffalo shooter also linked many scientific articles to his online manifesto as to why he was committing the shooting. These articles quoted from sources on the Internet that were controversial or have been discredited. One such figure was Canadian psychologist Philippe Rushton. Rushton's discredited theories tried to connect race to intelligence capabilities.
The primary point I'm making here is the Internet is influencing the minds of many of our impressionable youth with negative consequences. The easy availability of all kinds of information (for good and for ill) over the past twenty-five years is leading some in society into foolish ideas and practices. The father of lies (John 8:44) is having a field day with the Internet.
Another major problem, especially with the Texas shooter, was the dysfunction of his family life. The shooter lived with his grandparents because his mother was suffering from drug-related issues, and his father seemed to be neglecting him.
The father, Salvador Ramos, admitted in an interview that he did not spend much time with his son. He also stated, "My mom tells me he probably would have shot me too because he would always say I didn't love him."
Proverbs 22:6 teaches parents have to train a child early in order to have a good chance for the child to turn out well. Parents have a responsibility to be involved in their children's life (Proverbs 1:8-9). Without a father and mother involved with a child, other forces can take over in a child's life.
Finally, both of these shooters showed signs of needing help. The Buffalo shooter threatened to carry out a shooting at his high school last spring. He received a mental health evaluation because of it. The Texas shooter actually cut his own face. When asked by a friend why he did it, he said he did it for fun. He was also bullied for a speech impediment and other things. He also reportedly shot at random people with a BB gun and egged cars.
I'm going to leave you with some of the words from Alice Cooper's song "Eighteen." I could relate to these words when I was eighteen. Lucky for me, I also had an awareness of the Bible and God at that time. Many eighteen-year-old men today don't have that same awareness. Something else may be influencing them (Ephesians 6:12).
Lines form on my face and hands
Lines form from the ups and downs
I'm in the middle without any plans
I'm a boy and I'm a man
I'm eighteen and I don't know what I want
Eighteen I just don't know what I want
Eighteen I gotta get away
I gotta get out of this place
I'll go runnin' in outer space oh yeah
I got a baby's brain and an old man's heart; took eighteen years to get this far
Don't always know what I'm talkin' about; feels like I'm livin' in the middle of doubt
'Cause I'm eighteen I get confused every day; eighteen, I just don't know what to say
Eighteen, I gotta get away.—Alice Cooper, Michael Bruce, Glen Buxton
Sources:
"Great Replacement," Wikipedia
"It's Not Just Great Replacement Theory that Influenced the Buffalo Shooter," by Kyle Barr, Gizmodo, https://gizmodo.com/buffalo-shooter-great-replacement-theory-eugenics-ra-1848986922
"Texas School Shooter's Father Speaks Out: 'He Should Have Just Killed Me,'" by Jack Phillips, The Epoch Times, May 31, 2022
"Buffalo Shooter Had Mental Health Evaluation After Threatening His High School Last June," the Associated Press, May 16, 2022, https://ktla.com/news/buffalo-shooter-had-mental-health-evaluation-after-threatening-his-high-school-last-june/