Misplaced trust

When God is trusted there is always more; when an object made with human hands is trusted, there is always less. That’s a dilemma, particularly for the idols of power and deadly force. People place too much trust in them. People expect too much of finite things, human ideas, and ideologies that capture their imaginations and fantasies. In the end, our idols always disappoint us.—America and Its Guns: A Theological Expose, page 103 (emphasis original)

<idle musing>
Indeed, as they must. Mere things cannot take the place of the living God!

Along those lines, take a look at Preston Sprinkle's post today. Trickle down economics doesn't work, but trickle down ethics (unfortunately) does. Ideas trickle down more easily than money...

It’s tragic. It’s detestable. It’s a shameful evil that someone would open fire on a crowd and kill dozens of innocent people. But it’s inevitable. It’s inevitable that nationalistic values of retaliation, power, and violence toward our enemies will trickle down and nestle in the hearts of its citizens.

As long as we keep promoting a “we don’t take nothing from no one” narrative, we will have violence. Take away our guns. Fine. But we will still have vengeful, militaristic citizens who will destroy their perceived enemies at every will and whim.

What more need be said?
</idle musing>