Pope John Paul II popularized the phrase ‘culture of death’ in 1995 when he issued his encyclical Evangelium Vitae. Thirty years ago, the culture of death was largely associated with public policy relating to abortion and euthanasia. Now, we can add murder.
An Emerson College survey recently revealed that a plurality of young people think the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is acceptable. The data show that 41 percent of respondents between the ages of 18 and 29 believe Thompson’s murder is completely or somewhat acceptable, while 40 percent think it’s completely or somewhat unacceptable.
It’s more than a little alarming to learn that only one-third of this demographic thinks the sidewalk shooting of a business executive is completely unacceptable. Time was just about everybody thought murder was wrong but that opinion is clearly shifting. No less alarming is that those who believe the killing of Thompson is okay vote.
These survey results don’t necessarily show support for murder across the board. There are a number of culturally confounding factors in Thompson’s killing. Some of them parallel public opinion involving Depression-era bank robbers or wild west outlaws using violence in the name of something perceived to be greater than the simple taking of an innocent life.
Setting aside the questions of how bad American health care has become after 15 years of Obamacare, and whatever role Thompson played in it as CEO of a health care insurer, the culture of death is expanding beyond the killing of unborn babies, and elderly or very ill adults. Life is being steadily cheapened and the trajectory of this worldview is not encouraging.
This is not some philosophical discussion like whether it would be okay to kill Adolf Hitler as a child. Thompson’s murder was not abstract in the least. He was a husband and a father, leaving behind a widow and orphans. In spite of these facts, only one-third of young Americans think killing this man was okay simply because of his job and how he did it.
We all get upset when we feel cheated or abused by corporate behavior. I recently paid my annual homeowner’s insurance policy premium, which was $1,500 higher than it was one year ago even though I have never filed a claim. Angry as I was writing that check, never did the idea of stalking and killing an insurance company executive cross my mind. I shopped around for a better price but didn’t contemplate putting on a hoodie and loading a pistol. Just about nobody does that.
The reason, for most of us, is simple. Murder is wrong. The Bible and the culture have told me that my entire life. But Thompson’s killer was not sufficiently affected by these influences and apparently, neither are a growing number of young Americans. The teachings in the Bible are increasingly dismissed as myth, and the culture is similarly indifferent to much of the violence around us. What can be done?
While the Bible, the Ten Commandments and prayer are making a return in some schools, it’s not at all clear whether such efforts will pass constitutional muster. But there is one approach that would be helpful - a daily reminder for students of personal conduct advocated in cultures across the world and millennia. It can be wrapped up in a mere 22 words that require about 10 seconds to recite: “I will not steal, murder, or lie. I will treat my parents respectfully, not have sex outside marriage, and not envy others.”
There’s nothing overtly religious in any of these six ideas. There is no reference to any God or faith tradition, and half of them are already against the law. It’s not ecclesiastical in any way yet they provide a baseline of behavior that defines civil society. It’s a good bet that teacher unions would oppose the recitation of these ideas in a classroom, but they could begin to instill in young people a set of principles that are fundamental to civilization. It would be a good way to end the expansion of the culture of death.
It’s also good policy and good politics. It’s hard to imagine any school board candidate opposing these ideas and explaining to voters why taking 10 seconds out of the school day to discourage murder and theft is a bad idea. It crosses political and socio-economic lines, and would enjoy broad support among voters across the political and ideological spectrum. The culture of death is not slowing down but we can reverse this perversion of behavior, starting at the local level.
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