In a scene reminiscent of The Lord of the Flies, the Las Vegas youth was brutally murdered by a mob of 15 teenagers a short distance from Rancho High School on November 1st. His crime? He came to the aid of a friend and fellow student who, because he is small, was being bullied. And not just bullied but robbed and then stuffed into a trash can.
Coming to his small friend’s rescue, Jonathan was quickly overwhelmed by the mob, which continued to punch and kick him even after he collapsed and lost consciousness. It isn’t yet clear whether it was the kicks to the head or the stomps on his neck that dealt the fatal blow, but some other aspects of the attack are already apparent.
First, these young people provide the strongest argument for evolution, because they are clearly more animal than human. To stomp another person to death displays a subhuman disregard for life and all that we stand for as civilized people. As such, these depraved murderers should be tried as adults and then imprisoned for the rest of their lives, caged like the animals they are.
Second, their parents, if they can be identified, should be charged with child abuse for raising progeny completely devoid of conscience, compassion, and a sense of right and wrong. They should then be sentenced to rotating prison terms, allowing the ones who are free to earn an income in order to compensate Jonathan’s parents for their unimaginable loss.
Third, the school administrators who failed to stop such bullying in its tracks should be charged as accessories to murder. Throw the book at them just like the students under their care and supervision threw their lethal punches at Jonathan.
This type of outrageous behavior once seemed unconscionable in America. However, as I said in yesterday’s blog post, when you blatantly kick God to the curb by removing prayer, the Ten Commandments, and Bible reading from our public schools… and religious faith and practice from the public square… these are the unintended (or perhaps intended) consequences.
Likewise, a criminal justice system that focuses on the rights of the criminals at the expense of the rights of the victims needs to be reformed from top to bottom. Felons guilty of multiple violent crimes should be incarcerated for the rest of their lives and people who commit premeditated murder should be put to death themselves.
Having dedicated 35 years of my life to prison ministry, I am the first to offer a second chance to those who will make the most of it. However, I have had my fill of criminal and anti-social behavior that preys on the most vulnerable among us.
Like Jonathan Lewis and his little friend.
