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Whenever we hear about a shooting, either in the US or in another country, it will invariably fit the media’s narrative of “a far-right extremist” with a gun. In fact, when a good guy with a gun actually prevents a mass shooting, the media is, well, radio silent.
You may also notice that you rarely hear about far-left extremists, because their beliefs are being pushed as normative in today’s culture. For example, we should completely ignore biology and call men and women by labels outside of God’s design. And it’s completely acceptable to end a child’s life in the womb up to nine months of the pregnancy. The left readily supports socialism, an ideology that has starved to death millions of people in the last two centuries in places like communist China and Russia.
In reality, these extreme leftists views are not normative at all. Rather, these beliefs have historically resulted in the affliction and near-destruction of some of the most defenseless groups, from Jews in the Holocaust to the modern era of disproportionate gun control laws in communities primarily occupied by black and brown people.
And although the media informs us of mass shootings that support their agenda, they do not equally report appalling actions by the extreme progressive left. For example, three years ago a man holding these far-left views took his rifle to a baseball practice, shooting and gravely wounded five Republican congressmen and aides, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise. Just a year ago, a shooting took place in my home state of Colorado, where a transitioning transgender teenager along with a fellow Trump-hating student shot and killed one high school classmate and wounded several others. There were two back-to-back shootings by members of the left in California in late 2019.
These tragic events and others like them barely stayed in the news cycle for 12 hours. Why? Because the men or women responsible did not fit the narrative of a racist, white male who may or may not support President Trump. Also, in cases like the one in California, the shootings took place in gun-control havens, places that the media and left herald as prime examples with perfect gun laws.
The truth scares those pushing the progressive leftist agenda. The truth is that we are all born sinners and capable of harming other human beings if not for the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Without Jesus’ death and resurrection making a way for us to be forgiven and free, we would all be without hope. All of us are prone to sin, whether we identify as being on the “right” or “left” side. Christians know that our enemy is not with flesh and blood, but against spiritual darkness (Eph 6:12), and it takes spiritual power to fight against it. And this battle will continue until Christ comes back to redeem this world and make it new.
Sadly, the media paints a negative picture of anyone with views that are even remotely conservative, and Christians are usually a causality of that wide brush. We must stand firm to our beliefs and not be bullied by them. Our purpose is to be like Christ and promote life to the fullest. Because we believe that every human life is worthy of dignity and protection, Christians must hold fast against the individuals and governments bent on oppression and destruction. We must tell people around us the truth about the human condition and that our hope is not in politics—not in being on the right or the left—but in Christ alone. He is the only one that has authority and power to save individuals by changing hearts and minds.
God promises us hardship while on earth. As Christians, we must commit to be counter-cultural and acknowledge that we’ll be hated by this world. But our gain isn’t in this world—our reward and home are in heaven.
