Andy Taggart is an attorney with Taggart, Rimes & Graham law firm in Jackson. Email him at andy@tru-law.com
The incomprehensible has happened, and we are heartbroken, shocked, outraged, numb.
Our very natural impulse now is to do something to prevent it from happening again, all the while tip-toeing past that corner of our minds where we store the awful knowledge that we cannot, really, prevent a madman with no thought of his own safety from doing great harm if he is bent on it.
The first lines are already being drawn in the public marketplace, with a number of gun control measures being rolled out, and a good deal of discussion about our failures in dealing with mental health issues. No doubt, a number of laws will be changed in cities and states around the nation, and perhaps in the Congress, too, dealing with both of these issues.
As a nation we are very efficient at passing legislation to memorialize tragedies after the fact. But as a people, we are not so good at keeping our focus on the things that can be done ahead of time. And we need to remind ourselves that it is not changed laws, but changed hearts, that make for a good and decent society, and a safer one.
The apostle John wrote that “[t]he light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5, NIV). Evil doesn’t get the win in the next life, because the light of the Lord prevails over it.
And Evil will not get the win in this life, either, unless we fall prey to the temptation to rely on political solutions to spiritual problems.
