A man in Pennsylvania was angry with his father because he ate ‘too much pot pie.’ In retaliation, the son lodged a throwing axe at his father and then attempted to plunge a knife into his throat while screaming that he had to “neutralize the threat”:
Kevin Blanch, 30, of Springettsbury Township, was charged with attempted homicide, simple assault, and two counts of aggravated assault. He was remanded to the York County prison on $75,000 bail, PennLive reported.
Blanch was found by police outside his home with blood on his hands, neck, chest, and ripped shirt. His father, Dennis, 61, told police his son attacked him with an ax. He suffered wounds to his chest and neck and a wrist, according to the story.
Kevin Blanch told police his father confronted him Sunday morning about an argument he had with his mother the night before about eating too much pot pie. His father asked to speak with him and blocked his path. Kevin Blanch said he then picked up his M48 Tomahawk throwing ax and tried to hit his father in the jugular vein, the site reported.
A struggle ensued and Kevin Blanch said that he tried to grab a knife from his belt but that his father grabbed it, according to the report. He said that he wanted to “neutralize the threat” and that he “wanted to kill” his father. (source)
This story reminds me of the famous Pound Cake Speech by Bill Cosby. Given in 2004 on the 50th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education, it was a commentary of the state of black American families, saying how the degeneration has become so terrible that people are not being raised, and the result is the murder each other over trivial things such as pieces of pound cake. It was a warning that unless people started taking care of their children, holding them accountable to moral standards and rejecting degenerate behaviors and ideas that things would continue to worsen.
There are always problems in any society, and right now there is a lot of hope in America that things will get better. However, there is no hope for America as long as she continues to obstinately rebel against God, as one commentator wrote before the 2016 presidental election:
America is never going to be great again until we deal with the wickedness in our own hearts. In recent days I have listened to so many national leaders tell us that Donald Trump is going to win the election and that this will usher in a new golden age of blessing and prosperity for America. Supposedly this is going to happen even though we continue to slaughter babies on an industrial scale, sexually-transmitted diseases are spreading at the fastest pace in decades, the percentage of births out of wedlock is more than 10 times higher than in 1940, and approximately two out of every three Christian men watch pornography on a regular basis. Even though there aren’t any signs of widespread national repentance, we are supposedly going to be showered with wealth, favor, protection and good times for as far as the eye can see. You can believe this if you want, but it doesn’t have any basis in reality.
The truth is that we live in a nation where just about every type of evil that you can possibly imagine is spreading like wildfire.(source)
There is a reason why crimes such as these are so prevalent in the USA- because as hard as it is to admit, this is the price of sin, heresy, and apostasy. It is the disorder of the soul made manifest in a man’s actions, for while men wonder “how could this happen” and society looks on in disbelief, the source is and has always been right in the mirror. Culturally speaking, America does not really believe in freedom, for freedom is the ability to choose what is right on one’s own power. What America stands for is license- to do what we will because we will it and regardless of the consequences. We promote and value license as part of our culture and we promote it to other cultures, and if there is license found in another culture we import it and promote it so long as we can find a culturally acceptable context in which to frame it. This applies to all segments of society- “liberals” as well as “conservatives”.
Compare the recent uproar among Christians- American conservative Christians- over Milo Yiannopoulos versus the court decision to force florists to serve at gay weddings. You tell me- what has been the general reaction among this one group for these two stories? The latter is a huge issue and is being promoted as a major problem and a threat to religious liberty that needs to be opposed, yet the former is a very mixed response, with many people supporting him in spite of the fact that he was openly promoting grooming teenage boys for sex. The difference between the two is not in their essence, but in presentation- the latter is considered culturally unacceptable, while the former is considered culturally acceptable.
Now use this same dichotomy about homosexuality and apply it to the above story. What if the man in this story was a Muslim and his name was Mohammed? It would be all over the conservative news. But what if an “average joe” commits the same crime? There will not be so much as a whisper, and the few comments that people leave will be stupid and childish.
This is how “Christians” respond- the greater society is even worse.
Regardless of the sin or the person, there is a huge issue in America right now where certain sins are considered more severe than others not because of the gravity of the sin, but based on who commits the sin. We selectively choose who to hold accountable in the public sphere because, just as our churches teach through example, we can choose what to believe because absolute truth is not the measure of right and wrong, but the will of the masses and those who influence them to tell us what to believe at the current time.
Being a Christian is not about social acceptance, popularity, or self-help. It is choosing to follow Christ and as God became one of us, that we might become like him. It is either this or to become like this man in the article or the people described in the Pound Cake Speech- unbridled men ruled by passions and who assert themselves through brute force.
Choose wisely.