America's Gun Violence Problem -It's Not What You Think

Hi, my name is Adam Robles, and I'm a pastor at Redemption Church in Rutland. And I had some thoughts this morning. I was watching a video from the alt-right specialist extraordinaire Richard Spencer, and I often watch his videos.

I think, first of all, I like to keep tabs on sort of these identitarian movements. It's just an interest of mine, and also, you know, it's surprising how often Richard Spencer will be very good at identifying a problem, but misinterpreting the reason for the problem.

The Gun Violence Problem as Nihilistic Despair

And this video was about gun violence, and he was talking about the gun violence problem in America. And you know, I think he's definitely onto something with some of his explanations. He says that there's a sort of a nihilistic sort of despair in America, especially with males, especially with men, young men and middle-aged men, and it leads to sort of these outbursts of violence.

And so it's sort of a way where the world is sort of not providing them with the tools to really understand what the meaning of their existence is. And even there are things in the world that sort of work against people, you know, in terms of finding some sort of meaning in their life and understanding what their life is even for.

And so, you know, sort of a desperate sort of attempt to sort of make something of their lives, some people will lash out in violence. And not everyone who has this sort of nihilistic despair lashes out in violence, but there are different various ways that people do lash out.

And he says that that's sort of the reason for the gun violence that you see. Now, Richard Spencer would also say that there's a racial layer to this as well. And that's where I think he goes off the rails.

Gun Death Statistics and the Suicide Problem

I mean, I think Richard Spencer very often will explain something in racial terms that ought to be explained in spiritual terms. But this is something that I think is important, because if you look at the gun violence in America, a lot of times you'll see these numbers that aren't really quite explained.

You know, you'll see something like in 2016, there was 33 ,000 gun related deaths. And that's all the information that you have. And that might be a true number, but it actually really hides the situation that we're facing.

And if you see that number, you know, if you're like me, you would think, oh, wow, there's 33 ,000 murders done by guns. And that's actually not the case at all. In fact, in 2016, there was only 17 ,000 total murders, not just guns, just every kind of murder you can think of.

Now, I say only, but 17 ,000 obviously is a huge number. But you know, if you have got one person saying there's 33 ,000 gun related deaths and 17 ,000 total murders in the same year in the United States, you might wonder, you know, what's the disconnect there?

And the disconnect is that the vast majority of gun related deaths are suicides. And that is a ridiculous statistic. And if you look at the suicide statistics, what you'll see is that by far, males are the ones who kill themselves.

And by far, it is white males that kill themselves. In fact, in 2016, there was 45 ,000 suicides, which is a ridiculously sad and huge number. 70 percent of those were white males and 50 percent of those were done with a gun.

And so I think that Richard Spencer is definitely on to something. The gun violence problem is a matter of sort of this despair that people feel. And overwhelmingly, the despair that is felt in America is white males who are experiencing it.

Now, that's not to say that that murders and other kinds of violence aren't, they don't count. They're not part of this nihilistic sort of thing. But that's just the facts. I mean, you know, if you look at the statistics, it's a really sad thing.

And so the gun violence problem is a problem of meaning. There's a lack of real substantive meaning in these people's lives. And so, you know, if you tell someone to make their own meaning, you can't be shocked about some people finding a horrendous meaning in their lives.

You know, some of these guys, they're just, you know, one thing you'll notice if you look at the people that perpetrate these mass killings at schools is that you know, they typically are the people that, you know, when I was in high school, we would identify as losers.

You know, they had no friends or maybe they did have friends, but they were just kind of weirdos who just couldn't like they couldn't socialize. And they didn't have girlfriends and things like that. And, you know, I was one of these kids.

I was a I was a weirdo. I didn't have a girlfriend in high school, at least for very long. And a lot of these guys have, you know, their problems, their social anxieties and problems have been treated with psychotropic drugs.

Christ as the Only True Foundation for Meaning

And and this is another kind of additive to this this recipe that we've seen. I mean, you know, when you don't have a spiritual foundation, when you don't have when you don't have Christ as the one who defines what your life is and what it ought to be and what you ought to do with it.

You know, when you when you face sort of this, this despair that you don't fit in, you don't have a girlfriend, you don't have any meaning. Really, all what can the world offer you besides, you know, you know, treatment in the form of pharmaceuticals?

Right. What can the world offer you? And when that doesn't work, then what do you do? So this is that this is the despair that I think people are feeling. And so the church has something to say about this, but the church has to be willing to get their hands dirty a little bit in order to say it, you know, you know, the weirdos at school, you know, that don't have any friends and don't have a girlfriend and stuff like that.

They need to hear something besides, you know, life is what you make it. Because that doesn't mean that that doesn't give you any direction, because some people want to make something good in life and other people want to do horrendous things.

You know, and that's how they'll make a name for themselves. That that's been the case for forever, since the dawn of time. This is not a new thing. But it is new. The way it's kind of worked out in the United States is new.

White Identity, Shame, and the Meaninglessness of Pride

I think that the reason why white males kill themselves more than any other group in the United States. Is because there is an absolute turn in the United States against whiteness and against males. And I don't think it's I don't think it's that shocking.

I mean, you you see, it's so acceptable to to sort of belittle men and belittle white people. It's so acceptable to sort of rob them of any kind of identity. I mean, you see it. I mean, you if you identify as a white nationalist, you know, you're a pariah.

But if you were if you were to identify as a black nationalist or something else, you'd be a hero. You know, honestly, I don't have any sympathies for any of these identitarian groups. But there is an inconsistency there.

There's no question about that. You can't have white pride. You have to be ashamed of your whiteness. And so I don't think it's a surprise that that these middle aged white men are offing themselves in record numbers.

I think that, you know, our world is telling them that they don't matter. Their opinion doesn't matter. And a lot of them are are willing to are able to overcome that and to sort of say, well, I don't care what you have to say.

But a lot of them aren't. And that's a sad thing. And so, you know, the gun violence problem in America, it's not what you think. In fact, you know, murder, murder rates are put it this way. The world is safer today than it has been ever before.

That's just a fact. But that doesn't mean that it's a good thing. It's not doesn't mean that it's totally safe. It doesn't mean that that we don't have a problem. We do have a problem. It's just that, you know, we're not really willing to talk about the real core of the problem, the core of the problem, spiritual.

And that's that's just the bottom line. What's the cure to nihilism? You know what I mean? Richard Spencer, I would assume I have never spoken to him, but I would assume his cure to to nihilism is sort of this identity, finding your identity and whiteness and and pride and whiteness and things like that.

Well, I think that's stupid. I think that's stupid. That's the stupidest thing in the world to be proud of. You had no control over your whiteness. You know, I mean, I always think that's so dumb when when people like even the Puerto Rican Day Parade, I'm Puerto Rican.

I always thought that was the stupidest thing ever, because, OK, it's cool to be Puerto Rican. I'm glad I'm Puerto Rican. I like being Puerto Rican. I have no problem with being Puerto Rican. But to be proud of it, it's like.

I was born this way, like I had no control, I had no say in the matter. I always thought that was stupid. And so, you know, Richard Spencer's answer to the nihilistic despair that we face is completely ridiculous.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ as the Answer to Despair

But at the same time, we have to have an answer to that. And I think the gospel of Jesus Christ provides the answer to that. And I think that, you know, we can demonstrate that over the course of history.

I think we can demonstrate that biblically, which is the most important way. But we need to understand what we're facing. When people have this sort of despair in life, the Bible's answer is, well, you should have that despair if it wasn't for God.

Because God provides the meaning. God gives you your life. God tells you what you ought to do with it. God has you here for a purpose. The Bible tells you what that is. But if it wasn't for him, if you don't believe in God, then I understand why you have this despair.

It makes sense to have this sort of nihilistic despair if you're not a Christian, if you're not a believer. In fact, that's what the whole book of Ecclesiastes is about. The book of Ecclesiastes says that life is meaningless.

Meaningless. Could you imagine? Have you ever imagined that, you know, if you don't know the Bible very well, do you ever imagine that there's ever anything in the Bible that says that life is meaningless?

Well, it does. It does. It's meaningless and pointless and vanity except for the fact that Christ is there. God is there. He exists. He has a mission. And everything that we do here, everything that we do here absolutely matters long-term.

And so, anyway, those are just a few thoughts. This is a little bit rambly, I know, but just a few thoughts this morning. God bless. Hope everything's well.