The Scoop: Believing there will be justice in the end
If I can take any consolation at all from the two murders Wednesday afternoon, it’s in the fact I believe Kevin Martin will not escape justice. It won’t be justice here on Earth, but I firmly believe we all pay for our wrongs and are rewarded for our good deeds in the end.
I have no idea the religious beliefs of Kevin Martin. He may have been a deeply religious man who never missed a day of church and lived a good life. He may have been one of those folks who “just snapped” as I’ve heard people say. He “just snapped” and went on a killing rampage.
I’m certainly not here to judge Kevin Martin in this column. That’s not my place and I don’t want the responsibility. At the same time, I believe he will be judged and an appropriate determination will be made.
Call it heaven and hell. Call it judgment day. Call it whatever you like.
In one of his last reported conversations Wednesday, Martin was talking to an acquaintance and threatening to kill his wife. When the acquaintance warned Martin that such a move would get him in trouble, Martin’s response was, “I ain’t going to get in no trouble.”
Based on that conversation, Martin knew exactly what he was going to do. He fully intended to drive to Treemont Apartments, murder his wife and then kill himself. His thinking was that he “ain’t going to get in no trouble” because he would be dead. While it is difficult for us to put a dead man on trial on Earth, it certainly makes it convenient for God.
I’m no preacher, but so many of our nation’s problems come from the fact we have lost sight of God. Instead of prayer, we have TV and video games. We want front-row tickets to a rock concert, but flock to the back row at church. We believe every word we read in People magazine, then question what we read in the Bible.
I’m human and I’m no different. I’ll watch a two-hour movie without thinking twice, but often don’t want to devote that same amount of time in church. While it’s safe to say I will never “snap” and go on a deadly shooting spree, more and more Americans are following that path.
It was less than 10 days ago a man took two guns to work in Meridian, Miss., and murdered five of his co-workers before killing himself. How many times have we heard this story before?
Two teenage students take guns to Columbine High School and murder about a dozen of their schoolmates before killing themselves. Senseless murders at school. Disgruntled employees “go berserk” at work. Innocent people die in the crossfire. Children are left without parents. Parents have their children snatched away for no reason.
All this happens because people can’t control their own anger. These criminals then try to sidestep responsibility by killing themselves. They think this will allow them to escape punishment. My, oh my, what a surprise they are about to receive.
It all goes back to taking God out of schools. Then we fail to pick up the slack on the homefront.
What we get in return are murders and senseless violence. And folks believe this is all OK because they won’t get in any trouble if they just kill themselves too. It’s an epidemic with no quick solution. And with lawsuits to keep the Ten Commandments out of government buildings and keep “one nation under God” out of the “Pledge of Allegiance,” it’s also a problem which doesn’t appear on its way to getting better.
I believe in an afterlife and I believe, ultimately, there will always be justice. When small children right here in McMinnville are left to face the world without their mother and their father, that’s the only way I know how to cope with a truly tragic situation.
(James Clark is editor of the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].)