Dear Editor,

I find it interesting. No, I find it disturbing.

The media and many politicians are framing the horrific, pre-meditated mass murder of school children at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, MN as a “mental health issue” of the shooter. The murder was perpetrated during morning mass in the church sanctuary.

Those who call such a vile, villainous act a “mental health issue” are playing Russian roulette with words. We need to call it what it is. In addition to being criminal, it’s evil!

It’s not a matter of gun control or lack of it. Not a matter of political partisanship. Not a matter of needing more laws, more rules, more regulations, or more money thrown at the next cause celeb in the name of political correctness.

It is not a “mental health crisis”.

It’s evil. Pure evil. Plain and simple. We’re in an ever-escalating battle for the soul of our nation. And the battlefield is all around us. In our schools. Our churches. Our malls. Our city streets.

Remember the summer of 2020? When violent riots with looting and entire city blocks including police precincts were set ablaze all across our country from coast to coast. And we were told for weeks and weeks that they were “mostly peaceful protests.” Wrong. It was evil.

Remember similar murders at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT? It was evil. And at Uvalde, TX. And Columbine, CO. And West Paducah, KY. And Conyers, GA. And at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA.

And in Bellaire, OH in 1995 when Nathan Brooks brutally murdered his parents in their own home, decapitated his father with a hacksaw, and put his head in a punch bowl as part of a satanic ritual.

All were manifestations of evil. Evil then. Evil now. This is spiritual warfare, folks.

We need to respond with both action and prayer. Practical action to secure our surroundings, our cities, and our society.

And we need to pray as we seek God’s protection and direction.

Unfortunately, even prayer is being ridiculed by some as inappropriate. Mostly by Democrats or Democrat operatives.

Those that advance such a narrative are pointing the tip of the spear at God Himself. And they’re doing so at their own peril. And ours — if we buy into their narrative. Because they have exchanged the truth of God for a lie (Romans 1:25).

Church, we need to wake up! We can’t “play church” anymore! We must put on the full armor of God (Eph. 6:10-18). We must rise to the occasion with the righteous resolve of Elijah on Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18:21, 39). We must respond with boldness and tenacity as Nehemiah in Jerusalem (Nehemiah 4:14-18 &20).

And we need the urgency of Mordecai as he evoked the courage of Esther “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).

Now is the time for the people of God to do likewise!

Tim H. Johnson

St. Clairsville