Media, malaise and myopia

WorldNetDaily readers catch more than most people, so you may have caught the recent Gallup polling on confidence in our nation's institutions. Understandably, most media outlets weren't quick to report that: 1) the percentage of Americans who rate their confidence in the mainstream media as "quite a lot" hovers near 30 percent, 2) the percentage who place similar confidence in Congress hovers near 20 percent, and 3) the only public institutions rated lower than these were "HMOs" and "big business." (The highest rating of all was the 73 percent given the U.S. military – which won't be much reported, either.)

Both the little-respected media and the even-less-respected Congress earn this latest disgrace by showing too little respect for the public's own sense of what 's really important. Below, we'll revisit an example that cries out for further notice, even many months after it happened.

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With the Motion Picture Association of America – which assigns ratings like PG ("parental guidance") to movies – having just poked the public in the eye with a PG rating slapped on a movie judged not "too adult" but "too Christian," this is one of those times when I'm guided by my instinct that I should utilize this space to showcase someone else's contribution – in this case that of Darrell Scott, father of Columbine High School shooting victim Rachel Scott.

You'd think that the father of a highly publicized murder victim, speaking in Congress about what had happened to his daughter, would tantalize the press and be featured on all the "sensitive" magazine shows, as well as in most legitimate news outlets – wouldn't you?

Well, this very emotional moment went mostly unnoticed, both by Congress and by the mainstream media. Why? Because of what the man said! And still it caused an "underground" buzz so great as to land it on the website TruthOrFiction.com, where we find "Mr. Scott's testimony was so powerful that a lot of folks who receive an e-mail about it doubt its authenticity. It is true, however. His remarks were before the Subcommittee on Crime of the House Judiciary Committee on May 27, 1999." And I strongly doubt that any of the committee members who heard his words will ever forget them.

They deserve repeating here. And they're about to be.

The media and the Congress are only components of today's epidemic ignoring of things that should be emphasized and emphasizing of things that should be ignored. The Motion Picture Association of America has given the new movie "Facing the Giants," a fine family film with a Christian perspective, the same PG rating as "Jaws" or last year's "Pink Panther" remake got – reminding us that foisting secular lunacy on the rest of America is what Hollywood does, and does almost with glee and even a kind of missionary zeal.

I remember when the MPAA was created, and my old friend Jack Valenti took the helm. I've expressed to him many times my sympathy at the awful decisions he has had to make. Instead of offering some kind of wholesome influence, on behalf of families, to the producers of films – he's had to settle for trying to warn families what the producers were about to foist on them and their kids. And more and more, the Association has seemed merely a pawn of the industry, changing any and all definitions of what should be "family appropriate."

The atrocity upon logic and propriety that the Motion Picture Association is committing with this surprise "PG" will be much discussed in days ahead – I hope. It's a scandal that needs to be dealt with by an outraged public. But for here and now, I yield my time to Mr. Scott. I'm afraid the Motion Picture Association's clever finger in our eye now is just the latest example of what he was addressing years ago before the Judiciary Committee.

What was it President Lincoln said at Gettysburg? "The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here. …" Right? Well, what he said that day was so substantive, so weighty, so right, that high-school students memorize and recite it to this day.

And though our media largely ignored this grieved father's remarks, they've echoed through personal e-mails and local newspapers across the country – persistently over several years – touching deep nerves in those who still subscribe to the priorities held by our Founding Fathers. Here, then, is the authenticated testimony of Columbine High School shooting victim Rachel Scott's father, as fitting today as it was when delivered to Congress in 1999:

"Since the dawn of creation there has been both good and evil in the hearts of men and women. We all contain the seeds of kindness or the seeds of violence. The death of my wonderful daughter, Rachel Joy Scott, and the deaths of that heroic teacher, and the other 11 children who died must not be in vain. Their blood cries out for answers.

"The first recorded act of violence was when Cain slew his brother Abel out in the field. The villain was not the club he used. Neither was it the NCA, the National Club Association. The true killer was Cain, and the reason for the murder could only be found in Cain's heart.

"In the days that followed the Columbine tragedy, I was amazed at how quickly fingers began to be pointed at groups such as the NRA. I am not a member of the NRA. I am not a hunter. I do not even own a gun. I am not here to represent or defend the NRA – because I don't believe that they are responsible for my daughter's death. Therefore, I do not believe that they need to be defended. If I believed they had anything to do with Rachel's murder, I would be their strongest opponent.

"I am here today to declare that Columbine was not just a tragedy – it was a spiritual event that should be forcing us to look at where the real blame lies! Much of the blame lies here in this room. Much of the blame lies behind the pointing fingers of the accusers, themselves.

"I wrote a poem just four nights ago that expresses my feelings best. This was written way before I knew I would be speaking here today:

Your laws ignore our deepest needs,

Your words are empty air.

You've stripped away our heritage,

You've outlawed simple prayer.

Now gunshots fill our classrooms,

And precious children die.

You seek for answers everywhere,

And ask the question "Why?"

You regulate restrictive laws,

Through legislative creed.

And yet you fail to understand,

That God is what we need!

"Men and women are three-part beings. We all consist of body, soul and spirit. When we refuse to acknowledge a third part of our make-up, we create a void that allows evil, prejudice and hatred to rush in and wreak havoc. Spiritual presences were present within our educational systems for most of our nation's history. Many of our major colleges began as theological seminaries. This is a historical fact. What has happened to us as a nation? We have refused to honor God, and in so doing, we open the doors to hatred and violence. And when something as terrible as Columbine's tragedy occurs – politicians immediately look for a scapegoat such as the NRA. They immediately seek to pass more restrictive laws that contribute to eroding away our personal and private liberties. We do not need more restrictive laws.

"Eric and Dylan would not have been stopped by metal detectors. No amount of gun laws can stop someone who spends months planning this type of massacre. The real villain lies within our own hearts.

"As my son Craig lay under that table in the school library and saw his two friends murdered before his very eyes, he did not hesitate to pray in school. I defy any law or politician to deny him that right! I challenge every young person in America, and around the world, to realize that on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School, prayer was brought back to our schools. Do not let the many prayers offered by those students be in vain. Dare to move into the new millennium with a sacred disregard for legislation that violates your God-given right to communicate with Him. To those of you who would point your finger at the NRA – I give to you a sincere challenge. Dare to examine your own heart before casting the first stone!

"My daughter's death will not be in vain! The young people of this country will not allow that to happen!"

My sympathy, admiration and gratitude are still yours, Mr. Scott.

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