Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) gave us a hint when he said, “We had a public school in my district that was forced by the left and the courts to take down ‘thou shalt not kill’ from in front of the schools.”
By his implication, without explicit reminders of Judeo-Christian rules of moral conduct, children fail to learn that things like murder, stealing and lying are wrong. But it’s not a question of knowing the rules. Studies show even psychopaths know right from wrong. It’s a matter of following those rules. Perhaps that’s where religion helps: Believing you’ll be punished (or rewarded) in the next life changes your behavior here and now.
That can’t be it, either. If the specter of hell dissuaded believers from doing wrong, surely Catholic priests would not have committed — nor would their superiors have countenanced — child sexual abuse. Neither would leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention have ignored or covered up reports of sexual abuse in its ranks.
If the fear of hell prevented believers from committing mass shootings, even, then the eight victims of evangelical Christian Robert Aaron Long would still be alive.
— Kate Cohen in A question for those who say more faith will prevent gun violence: How?
