When We Took God Out...Where'd We Put Him?

Elementary/Middle School Killings

1927 – Bath, Michigan – Deadliest school-related killing in U.S. history/"the worst act of terrorism in the U.S. until the Oklahoma City bombing"

1979 – San Diego, California

1983 – St. Louis, Missouri

1988 – Winnetka, Illinois

1988 – Greenwood, South Carolina

2006 – Lancaster County, Pennsylvania


High School/College Killings

1966 – Austin, Texas – Second deadliest shooting on a college campus

1974 – Olean, New York

1982 – Hot Springs, Arkansas

1983 – Ithaca, New York

1985 – Kansas

1987 – Missouri

1991 – Iowa City, Iowa

1992 – Olivehurst, California

1992 – Great Barrington, Massachusetts

1993 – Grayson, Kentucky

1995 – Lynnville, Tennessee

1996 – Moses Lake, Washington

1996 – University Park, Pennsylvania

1996 – West Lafayette, Indiana

1997 – Bethel, Alaska

1997 – Pearl, Mississippi

1997 – West Paducah, Kentucky

1998 – Jonesboro, Arkansas

1998 – Edinboro, Pennsylvania

1998 – Springfield, Oregon

1999 – Littleton, Colorado

2001 – Santee, California

2002 – Grundy, Virginia

2002 – Tucson, Arizona

2003 – New Orleans, Louisiana

2003 – Red Lion, Pennsylvania

2003 – Cleveland, Ohio

2003 – Cold Spring, Minnesota

2004 – Washington, D.C.

2004 – Palmetto Bay, Florida

2005 – Red Lake, Minnesota

2005 – Jacksboro, Tennessee

2006 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

2006 – Bailey, Colorado

2007 – Los Angeles County, California

2007 – Midland, Michigan

2007 – Blacksburg, Virginia – Deadliest shooting on a college campus/Second deadliest school-related killing in U.S. history

2008 - Dekalb, Illinois





This is a list of "top" school related killings (top, meaning most severe). Not a list of tragedies in the United States, not a list of shootings in the United States. Do you see how long this list is? Too long. This isn't even half of the horrific things that have happened in the U.S. or even close to a fourth of the things that have occurred in the world. Look at this list, the first school killing occurred in 1927, the next school killing didn't occur until 1966, almost forty years later, then again five years later in 1974 and so on. Since then, increasingly, what has now become almost every year, there have been multiple school-related killings.



There are forty-five schools on this list and twenty-three years, thats roughly 2 schools a year since 1927.



The majority of these killings occurred after 1995. Some of you may be wondering what happened that year that seems to mark somewhat of a turning point in American history. That year, in 1995, is the year the supreme court ruled to "take God out of schools". I'm not saying this was the cause of rise in school-related killings, just a coincidence.



As the number of killings increase we need to pray. Pray for God to move and work in our nation. Pray for the families of those who are killed and those who kill. Originally when I wrote this the day was April twentieth, two-thousand and seven. The day that marked the eighth anniversary of the tragic events of Columbine High School, just four days after the even greater tragedy of Virginia Tech. Both of these events have been engraved in our history and our minds forever. We may not be able to stop these things from happening but we should be able to support the people they happen to and pray that it ends. If you are not a person of prayer then I ask that you just remember the people effected by these events, so their lives may not have been altered or ended in vain. Also, stop and ask yourself a serious question, "what is this world coming to?"



"Without suffering there would be no compassion."