I looked with sadness and tears at the photos of those murdered on Feb. 14 in Florida, which left in its wake a chorus of questions, most beginning with “why?” Tragically, media as far away as The Times of London reported that pre-event warning signs about the murder of 17 students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were plentiful, with the young teenage shooter—known to suffer from mental health issues—boasting openly on YouTube that he aspired to be “a professional school shooter.” The FBI admitted that it received cautionary reports about the suspect teenager but had failed to follow up.

Something is wrong—very wrong—with our unraveling American society. Since the tragic Sandy Hook school shootings in 2014, more than 400 people have been shot in some 239 violent school shootings, with 138 of these students, teachers and others outright killed.

What about you? A return to spiritual health and societal sanity begins with each person.

What’s the answer? Columnist Peggy Noonan squarely confronted the underlying cause. Framing it up in the Feb. 17 Wall Street Journal, she asked: “What has happened the past 40 years or so to produce a society so ill at ease with itself, so prone to violence?”

Here is her answer: “We know. We all say it privately, but it’s so obvious it’s hardly worth saying. We have been swept by social, technological and cultural revolution” (emphasis added). Why is that a problem? According to Noonan, this godless revolution over the past 40 years annihilated the once-stable family structure. Destabilized fatherless sons and daughters now turn to a tidal wave of online porn, violent video games, illegal drugs and more to self-medicate their anxiety. Torn asunder, too many youths lead empty lives that they increasingly perceive as utterly meaningless.

What do we learn from this? A relentless four-decade-long onslaught on moral absolutes has produced a violent, increasingly insane society severed from the restorative and stabilizing truth found in the Bible.

To be fair, Noonan carefully notes that the blinding speed of change compressed in the past four decades has not been all bad, as “some good things, even miraculous ones” have come about. But here’s a critical point: The dark side of this revolutionary assault has produced “what appears to be a mental-health crisis, especially among the young.”

How did this happen? The roots of all this can be traced back to an ironic event. Nearly a century ago, the legendary physicist Albert Einstein turned the world upside down with his discovery and publication of his General Theory of Relativity. Contrasting what appeared to be the once-absolute truth of Newtonian physics, Einstein demonstrated a whole new perspective. While his theory was scientifically illuminating, relativity was quickly clutched by social leaders and incorrectly applied to societal and religious concepts. The result was nothing short of a catastrophe. As Einstein biographer Walter Isaacson pointed out, “relativity became associated with a new relativism in morality and art and politics.” The New York Times of the day correctly pointed out that the “foundations of all human thought have been undermined.” Ironically, as Isaacson recalls, Einstein actually held “simple and absolute moral convictions.” Einstein himself emphatically stated that his theory of relativity “has nothing to do with religion.”

But the treacherous damage was done and crumbling societal decay quickly set in. Its disastrous outcome rings down to today, spawning fresh ruin wherever it is embraced. This dangerously false moral relativism actually “formed a knife to help cut society adrift from its traditional moorings,” as British historian Paul Johnson affirmed in his book Modern Times.

Now, fast forward to the 21st century and read the words of Dr. Norman Doidge, a psychiatrist and neuroscience expert. Moral relativity, he writes, today afflicts new victims laid waste by “a form of serious intellectual and moral neglect.” The result? “It turns out that many people cannot tolerate the vacuum—the chaos—which is inherent in life, but made worse by this moral relativism; they cannot live without a moral compass, without an ideal at which to aim in their lives.”

Moral relativism fuels the society-shattering false belief that there is no such thing as absolute truth, particularly when it comes to the Bible. Humanists—those who reject the Bible (or any other religious authority for that matter) and believe humans should choose morality for themselves—tragically dismiss the ancient words that could heal American and any other society.

Here’s my point: Tragic events like what happened in Florida represent the direct outcome of abandoning critical spiritual truths that guide individuals and societies to peaceful and prosperous lives. Whether people want to believe it or not, these spiritual laws are bound with relentless power. Breaking them eventually produces devastating consequences. When people foolishly try to neglect or abandon them—a futile approach—society is painfully rent with ruin.

About 2,000 years ago, Paul summed it up: “For since the creation of the world, His [God’s] invisible attributes are clearly seen . . . so that they [the humanists of any age] are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). What happens when an intellectual or any other person rejects this obvious proof of God’s existence? They become “futile in their thoughts . . . Professing to be wise they became fools” (Romans 1:21-22).

The Bible teaches that there exist two basic ways of life. God offers humanity the choice between them. He leaves no one with any excuse. God sums up basic but critical guidelines in what is known as the Ten Commandments. Keep and uphold them and you get a strong, resilient and caring society. Reject and break them, and you get Parkland, Florida, and a host of other grievous ills.

It’s that simple.

What about you? A return to spiritual health and societal sanity begins with each person. The challenge that God set before the ancient Israelites is today set before us: “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19, New International Version, emphasis added).

What’s your choice? These are critical times. To lay the foundation for the answer to tragedies like Parkland, I strongly invite you to request (or immediately download) and review two crucial Bible study aids: Life’s Ultimate Question: Does God Exist? and The Ten Commandments.

Deep compassion and grief fills us for the families and community members in Parkland, indeed, for all who have been afflicted by mindless violence. But we also grieve for a society that has gone mad. It is not God’s will that violent life should prevail. 

Find the answer to societal insanity. Make the right choice. Seek God while He may be found!