Shooting Ourselves in the FootDavid Ludwig: A Case of Violent Results from Being Taught Violence
A Shooting Ourselves in the Foot: The Sanitizing of Violence in Our Society Article from All-Creatures.org

Throughout the ages, we have accepted killing, violence, and violent behavior as just being a part of life - it's time we change!

By: Frank L. Hoffman

Ludwig - 03From everything we have learned, violence always seems to produce more violence.  When we are taught to live with violence, we become good at it, and accept it as a part of life. The more we practice violence, the easier it is to use violence when solving a problem.  This becomes even more pronounced when we receive praise and acceptance for being violent.  And unfortunately a lot of this acceptance of violence comes from supposed Christian homes, but such violence is totally against the teachings of Jesus Christ. (To enlarge the photo, click on the photo or link)

David Lugwig is an eighteen year old who has been arrested and charged with killing the parents of his fourteen year old girlfriend, Kara Beth Borden.  It was reported that he killed her parents, Michael F. and Cathryn Lee Borden, over a curfew dispute, and the fact that her parents did not approve of their having sexual relations.  One writer suggests that the murders resulted from her parents threatening to have him arrested for statutory rape.

The key to our understanding of this situation is that rather than being obedient to the wishes of the Bordens, David Ludwig chose to use violence to solve his apparent problems.

Ludwig - 06It was reported that the court papers stated that Kara’s 13-year-old sister, Katelyn, told investigators her parents were shot after they argued with Ludwig for about an hour. According to court papers, Katelyn said she saw Ludwig shoot her father, and then ran into the bathroom, where she heard a second shot, presumably the one that killed her mother.  Ludwig then ran through the house calling for Kara, she told investigators. The couple’s 9-year-old son ran to the neighbors, who called 911. (To enlarge the photo, click on the photo or link)

By looking at his family background, and the photos he posted on the internet, it is easy to see why David Ludwig found violence an easy solution.  However, we do not believe that this is an excuse, for he apparently knows the difference between right and wrong.

Ludwig - 16No weapons were found in the car when David Ludwig was arrested, but when the police went to the Ludwig home, they seized fifty-four guns.  These guns were in the home because our society condones violence and violent weapons, and because the Ludwigs took advantage of our society's failure to end our violent way of life.  (To enlarge the photo, click on the photo or link)

On David Ludwig's internet photo gallery, there are two sets of photos: 65 pictures of himself alone, which seems to be an indication of his self-absorbed personality, and 20 hunting photos, which we have posted with this article to amplify the way that the glorification of violence leads to more violence.

"He was a really good guy," said Frederick, 23, a college student and fellow employee. "He was friendly and joked around. I considered him to be a good Christian — he brought his Bible and read it during breaks."  Apparently the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, were never something that he understood or believed.  He may as well have been carrying a dictionary, for all he seems to have read were words.

Hunting is violent, and as long as our society sanitizes this violence into an acceptable "sport," we will continue to see cases like this one.  To us, teaching a child to enjoy killing any living being is a form of child abuse, for we harden the child's heart. We believe that this is a perfect example of what the Bible teaches us about such people.

Matthew 18:5-7

5. "And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me;

6. but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.

7. "Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! (NASB)

It's time that we stop sanitizing violence in our society.  It's time we stop shooting ourselves in the foot.

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