If we teach kids that people are made in God’s image, each a unique individual to be treated with care and respect, then we teach them to be gentle and loving and caring.
If we teach kids that people are squishy targets and it’s fun to blow them away, then we teach them something else.
It’s amazing how hard the computer geeks and special effects wizards have worked to make the simulated shredding and maiming of the human body look realistic in our movies and TV shows and video games, for entertainment purposes.
And I wonder if there’s a relation between running up points for every gory simulated death in a game, and cheering when the bad guy comes to a horrific end in a movie, and the cheering for war and violence on otherwise peaceful streets in real life.
Actually, no, I don’t wonder, I believe there’s a connection. When you cheapen the value of a life, you invite warlords and murderers to do their thing.
When a life ends, any life, something precious is lost forever. That’s what we must teach our kids if we are to survive as a species.
