Last night, before I went to bed, I found out that former Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver singer Scott Weiland had died in his sleep at the age of 48. As I tend to do in this sort of situation, seeking not only to comment on a particular event, but also on its coverage, I was struck by how the accounts of his death appeared to be divided into two camps. One group of people commented that given Weiland’s long struggle with addiction that it was not a surprise he died so young. Others, equally aware but perhaps more gracious, commented that they hoped his tormented soul was at peace and wished the best for his surviving family. Rather than add my superfluous commentary to his death or life, about which I know little, I would like to comment on the matter only as much to reflect upon my favorite Stone Temple Pilots song, which was released from their album 4, which was released when I was a college student. “Sour Girl” is a reflection of the dissolution of the singer’s first marriage, and in the bridge to the song, Weiland sings rather gloomily, “The girl’s got reasons. They’ve all got reasons.” The words may have been true of his first wife; they were certainly true of Weiland and many other stars. No curse without a cause will alight, and all too many stars are cursed to such an extent that they live their lives miserably and die far too young, leaving behind mourning survivors and creative works that demonstrate both their talent and their torment. And yet life goes on.

Meanwhile, while all of this was going on, I had the opportunity as well to reflect on the terrorist attack that took place in Southern California, in the area of the Inland Empire. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the political motives of the unknown attackers were speculated upon, before the truth came as a shock to those who had sought to use the attack as fuel for misguided anti-gun policies that fail to note the most salient aspect of criminal behavior. Laws alone do not stop criminal behavior because criminals, by definition, do not obey the law. Whether the laws we are dealing with are drug laws or sex laws or gun laws, those who have a respect for law will live in such a way that they do not become criminals, and those who wish to do what they want regardless of who or what is trying to stop them will not respect other laws that are passed in order to bolster existing laws that are not being obeyed. What does need to step up is enforcement of existing laws, as well as the knowledge that criminal behavior will not pay. It is therefore somewhat grimly satisfying that the end of the two terrorists was being shot down. There will no doubt be many people who seek to determine the reasons why these people, and their accomplices, threw away the chance for a decent life, but to be sure, they’ve all got reasons, and those reasons ought not to lead to hand-wringing on our part because people are responsible for making their own choices and for living according to those consequences, and so long as we are not behaving in a cruel or ungodly fashion, we have little to flagellate ourselves over, and if we are behaving improperly, let us repent rather than heap reproach after reproach upon ourselves. If we repent, we may at least be able to do some good for ourselves and others, after all.

This evening, I found myself amused by a discussion about a proposal by some Texas Republicans to push for secession from the United States. Being a student of the American Civil War, and one astute enough to recognize that there were serious secession movements in both the North (1814’s Hartford Convention, which sealed the doom of the Federalist party) as well as the South, I have often pondered at the folly of such efforts. The United States offers no constitutional remedy of secession to solve our massive and serious cultural difficulties. Only two solutions are offered–one of them is the constitutional means of choosing ballots over bullets, and seeking power through cultural influence and demography-driven political victory. The other is the extralegal means of bloody revolution, in which our nation achieved its own independence from Great Britain. Our legal and constitutional heritage offers no third option. To be sure, those who wish to recreate an independent Lone Star Republic have their reasons. They’ve all got reasons. Yet if there is to be a renewal of our own national culture, it requires not merely separation, but conversion of hearts and minds, the rearing and proper education of children, the restoration of proper worldviews and perspectives to social and cultural and political institutions, and the more widespread provision of a fair chance for success for every man, woman, and child in our republic. It is not through running away from our institutions that we find peace and prosperity for ourselves, but in engaging in the difficult task of defining our worldview, defending it, promoting it, expressing it, and in seeing it grow through much labor as it is blessed by our Heavenly Father above. Our obligations of outgoing concern do not stop at our nose or at our own families, but extend wherever we happen to go.

We live in a world where we seek freedom but find ourselves under heavy constraints. The freedom to live life as we choose often leads us into slavery into various addictions, with consequences that can often be fatal. Much of what masquerades itself as freedom is a far worse bondage than we are often fleeing from. Likewise, we live in a world where political and religious worldviews have consequences, sometimes of the nature of life and death seriousness. Do we stumble blindly into such matters, following foolish relationships without recognizing the danger that we are getting ourselves into? Do we wish to escape from our own personal demons with such fervor that we do not recognize that there are worse demons to fall prey to than the ones we see in our nightmares, if we choose to indulge in chemicals to numb our own suffering? Do we forget that when we seek the best outcomes for ourselves that we must think of others as well, whether our families or our neighbors, or even our enemies and rivals? To be sure, we can all make up reasons for what we want to do, but what the world does not need is our reasoning or our self-justification. What it needs is a good example to follow, and a way forward that leads to growth, to the realization of hope, so that we may overcome the signs of despair that are all around us, the courage to live every day as best as we are able, even when we are not sure if it is good enough.