Shooting Stirs The Morality Police

Posted Apr 16, 2007 by Wes Phillips

Updated Apr 17, 2007 at 09:08 PM

By WES PHILLIPS
The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA The victims of the horrific shooting at Virginia Tech hadn’t even been identified, and already the morality police were knocking down the door of personal responsibility.

By 3 p.m. Monday both Fox News and MSNBC had made some correlation between video games and the worst school shooting in U.S. history.

What’s wrong with this picture?

I’ve been playing video games, even violent ones, for most of my life. I’ve never been motivated to hurt anyone. I’ve never been arrested. I have however listened to Judas Priest, seen videos of Elvis gyrating his hips and played the Beatles’ “Help” record backward. It’s a wonder I’m not a drug-addicted, Satanic, nymphomaniac murderer.

The media’s knee-jerk reactions have shifted focus through the years, but the grandstanding and sensationalism have never changed. We, as humans, must have answers for everything. It’s why religion is one of the cornerstones of civilization. When we don’t understand the horrific actions of others, we assume the causes also come from this dark place.

And the media is quick to hand out the elixir. It’s flavored by the moral backdrop of our time. It makes us feel better when we we are tucked in at night. When the monster under the bed goes by the name of “Grand Theft Auto” and we can shoo it away with a broom of righteous indignation.

But it isn’t that simple. The numbers show this.

According to a 2006 report by the U.S. Department of Justice entitled “Indicators of School Crime and Safety,” violent crimes at schools have declined over the past 10 years. During this time, sales of violent video games, and video games in general, have reached all-time highs.

Many pundits and politicians would have you believe otherwise. In many states, laws that aim at restricting the sale of M-rated video games have been proposed. Guys like Sen. Joseph Lieberman and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich want to enforce a moral imperative.

Didn’t you know? These days legislation is better than personal responsibility. Constitution be damned. Never mind human connections, compassion and good parenting. Never mind the fact that we don’t have answers or reasons for most of the atrocities cooked up by history’s troubled souls.

Today there are many families staring into the abyss. We can offer them a shoulder, a hug. But not an answer.