(NOTE:  I wrote this column last December, the day after 20 children and six teachers were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School.  After the Senate on Wednesday rejected a plan to expand background checks for gun buyers I went back and re-read this column.  I haven’t changed my mind, I’m glad the legislation failed and I still maintain that it’s a cultural issue and not a gun control issue.  Please add your thoughts … and be nice.   JM)

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‘The red line of the unthinkable has been moved again.’

Those 10 poignant words by a psychologist discussing the massacre of 26 people – 20 of them six and seven-year-old children –  at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, sums up the world that we live in nowadays.

This event coupled with a never-ending 24-hour news loop on cable television prompts the same reaction that we have become accustomed to when there is yet another mass killing – revulsion, anger, fear, dread and the inevitable finger-pointing about why.

The bodies of the victims had not been identified on Friday before suggestions on how to prevent another mass shooting started.  Talking heads on television, people on message boards and of course politicians always looking to further their cause and re-election all had a variety of answers on how to make life in the 21st Century safe.

And of course passing tougher and more stringent gun control measures is as always at the top of the list. Others want to have an armed security guard at every school in America while some believe that arming school officials and teachers is the answer. Others say add prayer back to our schools and these horrific mass killings will stop.

While all these issues merit discussion I believe attempting to find an answer to what is happening in our country lies much deeper.

Let me explain.

Several years ago I wrote a series of columns about what I called the subtle erosion of America.  Certainly, this point of view will be looked at by some as simplistic because I’m from a generation that grew up before Columbine, West Paducah, Pearl and now Newtown.

The way this erosion works is a simple two-step process. You see, what once shocked us and made us gasp and recoil in horror now barely merits a raised eyebrow. What once was considered perverse and bizarre is now considered the norm. And what once was looked at as outlandish, unheard of and over-the-top is now considered to merely be routine.

And this has happened because a silent majority has failed to speak up and voice their opinion and take action when necessary.

The second step in this erosion takes place when every person that does have the courage to offer a differing view is quickly shouted down and labeled as judgmental, moralistic and bigoted … and, of course let’s not forget the pet word of those leading this erosion – intolerant. Not wanting to meet the wrath of this group, who by the way, might be the most intolerant and judgmental crowd that exists, most people do as they’re told and shut up.

And that’s allowed the erosion to take place, one small step at a time. The direct result of this erosion is that we are now a country where God has been booted from the courthouse, the schoolhouse and virtually every other aspect of life. After all, we’ve been told, we must be tolerant and not offend anybody.

Now, here we are in 2012 looking for reasons why a 20-year-old man who has no conscious or value of life could open fire at close range on a group of innocent babies. While all the arguments being tossed out might be symptoms of what is taking place the disease that is causing young men to kill at will I believe, is a cultural issue.

Consider this.

During this erosion we have allowed a culture where a generation of young people have embraced songs that talk about killing, rape and shooting police officers and its celebrated as freedom of expression.

We have allowed a culture of violent video games where people are massacred and slaughtered and these are then gobbled up by parents for their childrens’ entertainment and as a babysitter.  Again, freedom of expression.

We have allowed a culture where children think reality television is real, where teen pregnancy is glamorized, where a gangsta lifestyle is a goal for some and where 90-plus percent of what is on television is trash and not fit for any eyes, let alone the eyes of troubled young people.

We live in a culture where small children are routinely given anti-depressants and psychotropic drugs even though the effects of those drugs are many times violent, irrational and unpredictable behavior. We live in a culture where mental illness is still talked about in hushed tones and in many instances completely overlooked.  Out of sight … out of mind, right?  Well, out of sight that is until a mentally ill person opens fire in a first grade classroom.

In short, what shattered the tranquil setting of the small New England town of Newtown is a cultural issue caused by the erosion of America and no amount of gun control legislation or armed security guards can protect any of us from a deranged shooter hell-bent on killing.  Shootings in malls, movie theaters, crowded street corners and even churches is proof of that.  Ironically, the morning after the shooting I read a story in the Chicago Tribune with the headline: 10 people including four teens shot overnight on South Side.’  And Chicago has the strictest gun laws in the nation.

As a footnote, let me add that I think the prayer in school issue certainly adds irony to what has taken place in Newtown.  In my life I have watched as God was literally booted out of the schoolhouse by a small minority of people – part of the erosion of America group.  And again this erosion has taken place because the majority stood back and allowed it to happen.  And perhaps the Christian community is the most at fault because they have sat on their collective hands and ‘shut up’ as they were told.

But, isn’t it ironic that nearly every comment and every plea from everybody involved in the Newtown massacre has asked that the victims of this horrific and senseless act be remembered in prayers. I also found it interesting that when the crazed gunman was in the building that teachers and children turned to God and prayer to protect them and in the days since the killings there have been countless prayer vigils.  There used to be a saying that stated ‘there are no atheists in foxholes.’  I guess the 21st Century version of that is that ‘there are no atheists in schools and its OK to pray in the classroom when a deranged gunman is hunting for somebody to shoot.’

Gun control, armed guards, armed school administrators, prayer in schools and beefed up security are all items that merit attention but only after the cultural issue — the root of this problem — is addressed.  Because, if this is life in the 21st Century there is no place of safety that exists and God help us all.

If we continue on the path we are on, as horrific as it is to imagine, that ‘red line of the unthinkable’ will move again one day – because the erosion will continue and it will happen.

I was en route to broadcast a high school baseball game on Monday afternoon when I heard about the explosions that rocked the area near the finish line of the famed Boston Marathon.

As we have become accustomed (or calloused) to, the news broadcast was giving sketchy details about the the incident – details that here in the 21^st Century we know will get worse.

After I arrived at the press box at Eovaldi Field at Benton Community Park I went about the task of getting my equipment set up with that old familiar question rolling through my mind: What is wrong with people? And like I did please feel free to drag the word ‘wrong’ out. It seems to help me with the helpless, hopeless, irritating, frustrating, infuriating madness that we now know is a way of life at any location on the globe.

And really I can’t say I was surprised because I have feared, dreaded is a better word, the day that sporting events that are such a part of our makeup and fabric, were targeted by insanity. For the umpteenth time, the red line of the unthinkable has been moved again.

I went ahead with the ballgame – Benton vs. Murphysboro – which of course was the only thing I knew to do. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps and get going, is what my dad would have told me, so that’s what I did. I mentioned at the top of the broadcast the old standby line, ‘our thoughts and prayers are with the good folks in Boston’ and then I trudged ahead.

It was a good ballgame with the Rangers falling behind early 2-0 but then rallying for 5 runs in the third inning on some timely hitting and base running. Benton tacked on three more runs late and won 8-4. The Rangers had dropped three in a row coming in so it was nice to see them get back on the winning track.

I take a 60 second commercial between every half inning and I found myself scouring the news apps on my phone to try and get an update (or perhaps make sense) after the tragedy in Boston. A day of celebration and triumph in one of America’s greatest cities will now forever be marked by a tragedy. The date April 15, 2013 will now be linked with a growing list of dates and locations, an infamous list of dates and locations where evil and terror showed up to try and destroy innocence and a way of life.

But that won’t happen. Never. Ever. Never.  And let me explain why that won’t happen.

As I went about the task of unhooking my equipment and putting it neatly away I glanced out the press box window at Benton Community Park, which was a virtual beehive of activity. Games or practices going on at five fields and players and coaches raking and working on Eovaldi Field where the game had just been completed. I could see people walking dogs, using the concrete walking track that winds around the sprawling park.  Young girls in a group huddled up talking, children in the playground area. Life goes on, I thought.

As I walked to my truck a girl’s softball game was in progress, the good smell of the concession stand filled the air and the sun broke through a cloud cover and shined brightly. People were relaxing in lawn chairs, visiting, watching children and grandchildren learn the very American games of baseball and softball. I’m a decent wordsmith but I would have trouble trying to describe the feeling that this scene gave me.  In the words of the old country song, ‘I guess you had to be there.’

But there was one sight that stood out to me and caused me to stop before entering my truck and just watch and take it all in.

On Field 2, a field I had coached young boys on many years ago, I watched a coach give instruction on running the bases. ‘Catch the inside of the bag with your foot,’ he properly instructed the youngsters that I guessed to be seven or eight years old. And as each youngster ran the bases and crossed home plate he was greeted with a high five and a pat on the back. Again, there were people in lawn chairs taking in the practice, watching, chatting, living.

As I stood and watched these young boys learning the wonderful game of baseball – a game that they will teach their children to love someday — it crossed my mind that this is why cowards working in the shadows cannot destroy our way of life.

They might be able to blow up a building, a car, or an airplane but they cannot blow up our way of life. And the people that are hellbent on trying to destroy our way of life know nothing about the makeup of Americans or they would know just how futile their attempts are. There are thousands of recreational facilities just like Benton Community Park that dot the landscape across our great country where the same activities I witnessed played out yesterday and will continue today, tomorrow and forever.

While the cowards slither off into the darkness of their miserable life to plan their next terror attack Americans will move forward – proud, unwavering, resilient and a maybe a little defiant – knowing that a gutless act of terror will not change us or our way of life. Let me say it again. Never. Ever. Never.

It’s a new day. God Bless America … and batter up!