Moral relativism part 3: The Secret to Solving Mass Shootings? Start Valuing Life Again

Everyone wants a neat, clean solution to mass shootings. Politicians love shouting about gun bans, background checks, mental health reforms, or whatever new piece of legislation they can slap their name on. But here’s the uncomfortably simple truth nobody wants to say out loud: the real problem isn’t hardware—it’s heartware.

We’ve spent decades teaching kids they’re cosmic accidents. Just stardust with sneakers. We tell them life is a meaningless blip between the Big Bang and heat death of the universe, so just do what feels good while you’re here. Schools pound into them that morality is “relative” (translation: do whatever you want, nothing really matters), while TikTok and video games drip-feed them a steady diet of violence-as-entertainment. Then we act shocked when some of them decide to run the “Grand Theft Auto” program in real life.

Let’s be brutally honest. If you’re told you’re just an evolved mistake, a purposeless lump of carbon with no eternal meaning, then why not? Why not act out your darkest fantasies? Why not go for the high score with a rifle instead of a controller? Same logic.

But here’s the kicker: when societies actually believe life has value—when people are taught they’re made in the image of God, that every soul has purpose, that right and wrong are real and not just opinions—mass murder becomes unthinkable. It’s not about fear of punishment. It’s about reverence for life itself.

We used to know this. Even when the culture wasn’t perfect (and believe me, it wasn’t), there was still a baseline belief that human life mattered. That we weren’t just meat puppets waiting for the void to swallow us. Somewhere along the way, we traded that for cheap moral relativism and the gospel of self-esteem. We started worshiping feelings instead of truth. And feelings make lousy gods.

So here’s a radical thought: the solution to mass shootings isn’t another law, another armed guard, or another social program. It’s bringing back the idea that life is sacred. That people matter. That you, me, and every kid wandering through a high school hallway is more than cosmic roadkill.

Will that make some people squirm? Probably. Because it means admitting that the modern, secular worldview—the one that reduces humanity to chemical accidents—has failed us. But if we’re serious about stopping blood in the hallways, we need to put meaning back in the classroom before we put more cops in it.

Because when life is meaningless, killing is just another option. And until we confront that, all the metal detectors in the world won’t save us.

Below are the links to all of the articles in this series:

Moral Relativism, Part 1: Black Lives Matter and the Death of Moral Certainty in America

Moral Relativism Part 2: The Culture of Violence

If you enjoyed this article, then please REPOST or SHARE with others; encourage them to follow AFNN. If you’d like to become a citizen contributor for AFNN, contact us at managingeditor@afnn.us Help keep us ad-free by donating here.

Substack: American Free News Network Substack
Truth Social: @AFNN_USA
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/afnnusa
Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/2_-GAzcXmIRjODNh
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AfnnUsa
GETTR: https://gettr.com/user/AFNN_USA
CloutHub: @AFNN_USA