Are We Listening to the Children?

But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that he did, and heard the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became angry and said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,

‘Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies

    you have prepared praise for yourself’?”

                          Matthew 21:15-16

Then little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them;  but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” And he laid his hands on them and went on his way.

                        Matthew 19:13-15

Are we listening to the children?

They are asking us to listen. No—they are demanding that we listen. They are tired and angry of having their schools turned into shooting galleries. They are not ready to wait any longer for the supposed grown-ups to do something to keep them safe—and, no, arming the teachers is a stupid idea. The children know better. The children see the way to safety. As I wrote in response to this latest atrocity unleashed in Florida, Disarm.

It is really that simple—disarm.

Unless you are hunting for something to eat, I ask you to disarm. The guns fired in school rooms are designed for only one purpose—to shoot human beings. No legitimate deer hunter I know takes an AR-15 into the woods. Nor a .357 magnum pistol. The guns fired in school rooms are made to kill human beings. 

Listen to the children.

They have no interest in being targets. They could care less how many intellectual gymnastic twists are employed to somehow justify the use of the weapons by ordinary people used to hunt them, the children. They demand something different. They demand a return to school being a place to learn in safety, peace, and as quiet as children can be while learning. 

They went to the state capitol to make their plea heard. Some immediately dismissed them as “actors.” Are you kidding? They watched their friends die. They watched their teachers die. That’s “acting”? That’s falling under the spell of left-wing extremists? Come on!

Are we listening to the children?

All they want is what every child breathing should be able to expect without having to ask for it—safety, security, and the knowledge that those entrusted with their care really are committed to that care, not to whomever pays the most for their allegiance.

Are we listening to the children?

I know God is…

So, again, I ask...disarm.