  ESTFIELD HIGH SCHOOL in Chantilly, VA is developing an infamous reputation.
Not only is it the alma mater of Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung-Hui but also of Michael Kennedy, who shot up a Fairfax Virginia police station in May 2006 where he murdered two officers in a shooting rampage.
Before dismissing these incidents as disturbing coincidences, we owe it to both the families who lost loved ones in these massacres as well as the broader frightened public to look into what role this institution might have had in shaping the warped worldviews of these deranged gunmen.
Such a line of investigation might prove more than grasping at straws if it comes to be learned that Westfield High had a death education curriculum.
According to education analyst Samuel Blumenfeld in a May 27, 1999 WorldNetDaily column titled "Death Education At Columbine High", students at this school that has since becomes a byword for such tragic heartache and bloodshed were taught to embrace death through psychologically manipulative exercises such as writing one's own suicide note, listing ways to die, and lying in caskets.
More than one student has reacted negatively to the exposure of such grim topics devoid of the comfort provided by a Biblical faith when confronted by the thing a vibrant and healthy person fears the most. A number have attempted suicide and may be responsible for some of the worst incidents of school violence in American History.
Ultimately, those deciding to pull the trigger must be the ones held responsible. However, if in the coming days we are to be bombarded with an increasingly insistent chorus about how we should all be willing to give up yet still more of our liberties (namely the right to bear arms as stipulated by the Second Amendment and state officials being granted the authority to bring in for psychological evaluation anyone preferring to stay to themselves) in order to prevent this kind of violence in the future, shouldn't government be subjected to the same level of scrutiny?
Frederick Meekins is an Internet columnist. He holds a BS from the University of Maryland in Political Science/History and a MA in Apologetics & Christian Philosophy from Trinity Theological Seminary. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Practical Theology through the Master's Graduate School Of Divinity in Evansville, Indiana. Frederick's research interests include Worldview Application, Christian Apologetics, The Implications of Aberrant Theologies & Ideologies, Futurology, Eschatology, Science Fiction, Terrorism Studies, Environmentalism, Education Policy and America's Judeo-Christian Foundations. Frederick is also an ordained Non-Denominational Minister and listed in "Who's Who In America" and in "Who's Who Of Emerging Leaders". Media inquiries can be directed to: americanworldview@hotmail.com. His books "Yuletide Terror & Other Holiday Horrors" and "Provide For The Common Defense: Thoughts Concerning The Nation's Enemies" are available at http://stores.lulu.com/fmeekins. His blog, The Epistolizer, can be found at http://epistolizer.blogspot.comMore columns by Frederick Meekins
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