Cultural danger signs

National | Kids killing kids: Are we even paying attention? | Cal Thomas

When the sky turns dark during the day, it signals a coming storm. But what would be the signs of a deteriorating culture? Strangling inflation? An erosion of military power and influence? Corruption that is largely ignored? Rampant materialism springing from self-indulgence and an unwillingness to consider anyone or anything more important than one's own comfort and desires?

How about children shooting each other in school? Would that get our attention? If it did, would we go beyond the usual proposals of more gun laws to the heart of the matter and do something about it?

The latest horror occurred not in the "gun-culture South" but in Springfield, Ore. Fifteen-year-old Kipland Kinkel is charged with murdering two fellow students and wounding more than 20 others in a rampage that might have been prevented had someone taken seriously his repeated violent threats and behavior. He is also a suspect in the killing of his parents.

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