In October of 2003, my husband and I headed to the movie theatre to see the re-make of the The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I still cannot get the horrific images out of my mind, and have not seen a slasher film since. In fact, I highly discourage anyone from watching them. They do nothing but scare the wits out of us, as we peer into the dark minds of the writers. With so much going on in the world to really frighten us (if we let it), why add to it? There’s only one reason: We are obsessed with death. Look around you – planned parenthood spends its days and dollars defending the killing of unborn human beings. State after state wants to allow people to kill themselves with the help of licensed medical professionals who took an oath to save, not take, lives. The top selling video game of 2017 was Call of Duty – apparently it involves a lot of killing. And the horror film industry rakes in hundreds of millions annually.

Clearly, our society is obsessed with death. We simply do not believe in the sanctity of human life. We are entertained by killing. We throw people away (or support them being thrown away) if we perceive they are a burden. And have you noticed that when someone dies, people expect the loved ones to “get over it.” Even when it’s not said, it’s most certainly implied. Death doesn’t shock us or surprise us because we are so accustomed to it. Someone else killed by a drug overdose or suicide? Old hat. Who cares that the numbers keep going up? Their lives didn’t matter much anyway, right? News flash: They did. They all did. They all do. And this is why we must end our obsession with death. The question is, with it being so indoctrinated into our minds, how do we overcome this? It may seem impossible, but it’s not. It simply starts with each of us when we…

~Stop paying money to watch people die – or worse, kill them. All pretend, of course, but still harmful to our brains, hearts, and souls.

~Support those who are grieving due to a loved one’s death and be a part of the work to help end untimely deaths (such as those already mentioned.)

~Stand up against abortion. Give your time and/or resources to a crisis pregnancy center or organization that works on legislation to reduce and end abortion.

And these are just starters. In order to cultivate our appreciation for life, we need to change our culture. We must end end our obsession with death.

Dr. Laurel Shaler

Patheos

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