It may be difficult at first to see the connection between the ninth anniversary of the cowardly attack on America, back on Sept. 11, 2001, and a criminal threat case in Wellington — but the connection is there and it is real.
This week, Levi Shove, 32, of Wichita, plead guilty to aggravated attempted criminal threat in connection with the Dec. 16, 2009 incident involving Sumner Regional Medical Center in Wellington.
Shobe called the hospital with a bomb threat, according to an Associated Press report. “Sumner Regional Medical Center in Wellington was evacuated the morning of Dec. 16, 2009, after a caller claimed the building was going to blow up. Patients and staff were allowed to re-enter more than five hours later.”
As part of the plea agreement, Shobe is to pay over $65,000 in restitution.
The connection?
The intentional violation of the peace.
There are other issues at stake, certainly.
There are the 3,000 lives lost in the 9/11 attacks on America.
There are the hundreds of lives that were put at risk by Shobe. Evacuating a hospital is a dangerous procedure.
But there is more.
In both cases, there is the loss of peace. There is the creation of risk. And it all leads to the current conditions in our culture, in which people do not feel safe, in which we see a continuing need for increased security, and yet we also bristle at the restrictions that places on our lives.
Let’s face it, we are in an uncomfortable position.
Reality of threats from without and within our nation make it clear that America is in need of some serious self discipline.
And yet we continue to experience an electronic media fueled adventure into advanced hedonism — no responsibility, except the responsibility to do whatever feels good at the moment.
The two cannot continue to coexist.
It’s no wonder that our culture is becoming more schizophrenic daily. We are desperately trying to hold two opposing views at the same time.
America needs to get serious about addressing the threats to this nation, and the constant, obvious attempts to divert Americans’ attention to celebrity gossip or the most recent fads isn’t helping.
We can best honor the memory of the attacks on our nation by working together to address threats against peace, from without and from within.
— Chuck Smith