DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE: Indeed, government can guard the gate, but only truth and transformation can guard the heart

This week I’m going to localize my column to a Texas incident, even more to the point to the Dallas/Ellis County area.

One of the reasons I’m aware of the incident I’m mentioning below is because I work with the city in a Public Information Officer capacity.

The other reason is because my boss, Ferris City Manager Brooks Williams, is pretty much one of the only people who has the wisdom (or guts) to speak the words printed below.

It was written and sent out via a press release last week after a fatal shooting in the city.

I’m certain many are thinking the words Brooks shared including city managers, city officials and police chiefs, but it seems that these days narrative has been forced to eclipse common sense.

I appreciate the local CBS media for sharing Brooks’ words with their viewers: www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/ferris-city-manager-urges-shared-responsibility-after-deadly-park-shooting.

Overall, the news media commended Ferris for being so transparent regarding this incident.

Transparency does make a difference, I promise.

There have been five arrests in this senseless murder that has rocked this growing and positive little Texas city 20 minutes from Downtown Dallas straddling Dallas and Ellis County.

The incident occurred at a local park. Within seconds it altered the lives of young adults and a few juveniles, and lives changed forever.

Take these words by Brooks to heart because government does not have the ability to “remove the desire to do harm from a person’s heart” and indeed, this should be a wake-up call if you are not already aware of that fact.

And for all my blue friends out there, please do not blame Trump this week.

Continuing to be a victim of the system along with endless complaining (no matter the side of the aisle) is SO outdated these days. Instead look in the mirror and see what you are doing to be the change regarding ANYTHING you do not like.

Thank you, Brooks, for your wise words below:

We’ve heard the questions and statements:

• What is the City going to do to make sure this never happens again?

• What is the City going to do to keep violence out of our parks?

• What is the City going to do to stop people from bringing weapons into public spaces?

• The city can just tear the park down for all we care.

• The city should never have allowed this park to be public.

And beneath those questions and statements, we’ve begun to see something else, an implication that perhaps the responsibility for a human being’s decision to commit violence should be laid at the feet of those tasked with maintaining infrastructure, creating programs, or enforcing laws.

We want the public to know, we are not passive in the face of these challenges. We have made meaningful investments in public safety, in partnerships, and in building trust with our community. And we will continue. We will continue to invest in personnel and expand our public safety workforce. We will continue deploying advanced security cameras throughout parks and high-traffic areas. We will implement new AI detection systems capable of identifying visible and concealed weapons in real time. While no technology is infallible, these are additional layers of vigilance we are putting in place, not as a promise of perfection, but as a sign of our commitment.

We are also evaluating an expansion of our partnerships to include mental health professionals, outreach teams, and local organizations that work with youth, because we understand that enforcement alone is not enough, we must address root causes, not just symptoms.

And yet, even with all of that, it is both heartbreaking and frustrating that a tragedy becomes the backdrop for a larger misunderstanding of what any city, ours or any other, is capable of doing alone. It should be known, without any misconceptions, there is no ordinance, fence, patrol, or policy that can eliminate the human capacity for violence when someone is determined to cause harm.

We live in a time when responsibility is often displaced onto institutions, as if the mere existence of a local government, county government, school district, or other public entity somehow creates the ability to prevent every act of evil. That’s not how it works. We can provide lighting, presence, programming, and enforcement. We can invest in our youth, build partnerships, and encourage community involvement. And we are doing those things, and we will continue to do so.

But if the argument is that the problem stems from a space being public rather than private, or open rather than restricted, then we’ve missed the real danger. Making the assumption that safety can be guaranteed by geography, or that human nature changes with zoning designations, is like thinking evil needs a key card to get through the gate. That is not how this works.

This was not a zoning failure. It was a moral failure. A cultural one. And it is not one that the City of Ferris, or any city, can fix alone.

The belief that government can somehow remove the desire to do harm from a person’s heart is a dangerous illusion. We are not battling a lack of ordinances; we are battling human nature. And the idea that policy alone can save us from ourselves is not only false, it is the very delusion that keeps us from doing the real work of change. You cannot regulate away hatred, bitterness, trauma, revenge, or the glorification of violence that infects so many parts of our culture. These are not policy problems, they are people problems. Human nature problems.

Frankly, this line of thinking is part of the problem. It implies that an institution, city, school, county, or otherwise, exists to undo human nature, to intercept evil before it even manifests, and to do so without the partnership of the very people it serves. It turns accountability into something we outsource, and in doing so, it paralyzes progress. Because when you believe someone else is supposed to fix everything, you stop asking what you are supposed to do.

We didn’t get here overnight. We got here through years of moral erosion, of ignoring red flags, of celebrating rebellion while silencing wisdom, of convincing ourselves that law enforcement is the enemy and personal restraint is optional. We got here by mocking faith, removing mentors, and letting screens raise our children. And not just any screens, screens flooded with chaos, cruelty, and clout-chasing. We expect young people to choose peace while the adults in their lives model outrage. We demand discipline from teenagers while feeding them a daily diet of dysfunction, watching grown men and women treat disrespect like entertainment and division like a brand. If you don’t believe that, just spend five minutes reading how people talk to one another on a community Facebook page. Social media isn’t just shaping youth; it’s showing them what adults have deemed acceptable. And then we act surprised when that darkness doesn’t skip a generation. And now we want to blame others and a lack of external solutions? No. We have to be more honest than that.

We are in a societal moment where it’s easier to demand external solutions than to confront internal truths. But real change doesn’t begin at City Hall, it begins in the mirror. It begins by recognizing that the brokenness we fear in our world is too often a reflection of the brokenness we tolerate in ourselves, in our homes, and in our communities.

The truth is, it will take all of us. Parents. Educators. Faith leaders. Coaches. Neighbors. And yes, cities too. But not cities alone. If we’re serious about change, then it’s time to stop pointing fingers and start linking arms. Because safety isn’t the sole product of government, it’s the product of community.

We grieve with the families. We are resolute in pursuing justice. And we invite everyone to take part in building a culture where this kind of violence no longer has room to grow.

As it is written, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

Government can guard gates, but only truth and transformation can guard hearts. That is where the real battle lies.

These words can be applied to life on many levels.

In short, if you don’t like the politics, the religion, the system, the person, YOU be the change.

YOU are where it begins.

Rita Cook is a freelance writer for The Ellis County Press. She can be reached at rcook13@earthlink.net.