Lest You Think It Is Just About Individuals

Monday, October 6, 2025

It is not just about anti-social individual violence – we have a real problem with people generally.  Riots after sports championships have grown commonplace.  What we once considered a “soccer hooligan” problem just in Europe has come to the United States in force – especially after the NBA decides its champion.  There are more examples from the weekend just ended.

In Montgomery, Alabama crowds gathered for the weekend festivals that have become common in smaller cities.  Two people that did not like each other erupted into a gunfight, killing or wounding a dozen or so.  In Sevierville, Tennessee people gathered for a car show/convention.  The crowd got so far out-of-hand that organizers cancelled the second day of the show.  This later event stands in sharp contrast to the way local East Tennessee communities pulled together to keep Smoky Mountain National Park (a huge economic driver for the region) open during the federal government shutdown.

Clearly our violence problem extends beyond things like assassinations or individuals shooting up churches.  There seems to be a general disregard for life and property – and a distinct lack of patience when people gather in large groups and life becomes somewhat harried.  Add alcohol, or other emotional stimulant, to the mix and something ugly seems almost inevitable.

In Europe they are trying to curb such things by limiting speech, especially on controversial topics – an exchange of personal freedom for civil order.  Is this really a reasonable exchange?  Clearly, given the First Amendment, our Founders did not think so.  But if you read their writings beyond the Constitution you will find that they based their preferences on a populace that was, of itself and a priori, civil and reasonable. – thus freedom of religion and public education.

Which brings me to Salena Zito’s continuing reporting on the new rise of faith among young people.  In her latest:

In many ways, we are not OK. The decline of faith has left a void, and people have tried to fill it with politics, social media, gaming and countless other distractions. Yet none of these substitutes provides the deeper sense of purpose we were made to seek.

We keep talking about the “decline of faith” as if it were an unavoidable, natural cultural phenomena.  And I will grant you, the forces aligned against faith in America have been large, powerful, widespread and effective.  But I also note, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”

There is a faith crisis in America, yet I cannot help but wonder if it is in the culture or the church – a church that has lacked sufficient faith to rely on the God in whose name it exists to resist the decline?  If young people are indeed returning to and seeking faith, can they find it in our churches?  Or will they simply find institutions that mindlessly name God while engaging in the same political and cultural battles that embroil us generally?

The hope that Zito sees is misplaced if it is in anything but God Almighty.