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Before the tragedies of Columbine, Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook, there was a school shooting near Paducah, Kentucky.
This shooting, carried out by then 14-year-old Michael Carneal, killed three students at Heath High School who were gathered for a prayer meeting, while injuring five others.
Every time there is a horrific shooting like this, there is a focus on finding out what caused it to happen. The blame for these terrible events has fallen on things like video games, mental health, societal influence and poor parenting. These are all outward manifestations for the demonic influence that is behind the mass shootings.
Carneal revealed that voices in his head directed him to commit this atrocity. He recently explained this to the court that he was, “hearing in my head to do certain things, but I should have known that stealing guns… was going to lead to something terrible.”
He expressed remorse for his actions, but the voices are still there, and he is still experiencing paranoia with violent imagery.
There are mental health issues aligned with many violent acts like these, but rarely does the underlying issue of spiritual influence that can lead to these disorders get mentioned.
Carneal’s path is spiritually similar to that of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold (the Columbine shooters). The demonic influence got darker and stronger within Harris and Klebold, as their rage at society grew over time, eventually culminating in the deadliest school shooting at the time.
The alarm is still going off for Carneal, as the two-person panel could not unanimously decide to deny his parole, so now his case is being referred to the state board in its entirety. All the while, Carneal is still hearing violent voices in his head. He said at the hearing, two days prior the voices told him to jump off the stairs, but this time he did not listen to them.
This case spirals through multiple levels of society that are suffering from demonic influence to cause death, chaos and undermine God’s authority.
The issue of the two-person panel not discerning that a man who murdered three teenagers, and still hears voices and suffers from violent imagery shows the failure within the judicial and rehabilitation system.
These signs displayed by Carneal also show that his therapy has not, and is incapable of, freeing him from this demonic influence. Since the United States has removed God from its infrastructure, these occurrences are becoming more and more frequent. Mental health cases are on the rise, and the only answer for them is prescribing pills that do not address the root cause of the issue. In some cases, psychotherapy helps the person suffering, but like prescription medication, the root of many of these illnesses lies within the spirit.
Even the way Carneal obtained the guns he used to murder his fellow students goes against the commands God gave to mankind. He admitted that he stole them from his neighbor’s garage. Since Jesus came to fulfill the Law, not abolish it, that means honoring the commands God gave Moses is in the best interest of believers and non-believers alike. Do not murder, do not steal, do not covet, all of these commands are things that a demonic spirit would love to influence a human to disobey.
It is also no coincidence that a prayer meeting was targeted for this type of attack. The 1990’s were a time when students began praying more at school. Events like “See You at The Pole” started in the nineties, and grew larger than anyone had imagined. This type of event becomes a battleground for spiritual warfare, because it makes a difference in society and the spiritual realm. It also makes the students across the nation a target. With the shootings in Kentucky and Littleton, Co., the enemy showed that he was actively targeting teenagers during the alternative and misdirected nineties.
Now, with a man who still suffers from these demonic attacks, the state government has opened the door for him to be released back into society. Yes, forgiveness of this man’s crimes is imperative for Christians, no matter how heinous the crime was, but that does not mean he should not have to finish serving his punishment for those crimes. His words also show that a prison ministry should try and gain an audience with this man. He is clearly suffering from spiritual attacks and no amount of medication will solve that.
Only Christ can overcome and defeat those spirits, and it is a Christian’s duty to fight those battles on earth. {eoa}
James Lasher is a Copy Editor of Charisma Media.
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