Weapons

Movies are getting deadlier – at least in terms of their dialogue. A new study analyzing over 166,000 English-language films has revealed a disturbing trend: characters are talking about murder and killing more frequently than ever before.

Researchers examined movies spanning five decades, from 1970 to 2020, to track how often characters used words related to murder and killing. What they found was a clear upward trajectory that mirrors previous findings about increasing visual violence in films.

By applying sophisticated natural language processing techniques, the team calculated the percentage of “murderous verbs” – variations of words like “kill” and “murder” – compared to the total number of verbs used in movie dialogue.

Lead author Babak Fotouhi explains, “Our findings suggest that references to killing and murder in movie dialogue not only occur far more frequently than in real life but are also increasing over time.”

This rising tide of violent speech wasn’t confined to obvious genres like action or thriller films. Even movies not centered on crime showed a measurable uptick in murder-related dialogue over the 50-year period studied. This suggests that casual discussion of lethal violence has become more normalized across all types of movies. This potentially contributes to what researchers call “mean world syndrome” – where heavy media consumption leads people to view the world as more dangerous and threatening than it actually is.

What makes this new study particularly noteworthy is its massive scale – examining dialogue from more than 166,000 films provides a much more comprehensive picture than earlier studies that looked at smaller samples.

One researcher warned, “The evidence suggests that it is highly unlikely we’ve reached a tipping point.” Research has demonstrated that exposure to media violence can influence aggressive behavior and mental health. This can manifest in various ways, from imitation to a desensitization toward violence.

In a landmark moment in U.S. legal history, the family of Christopher Pelkey utilized artificial intelligence to create a video of him delivering a victim impact statement at the sentencing of his killer. Pelkey, a 37-year-old Army veteran, was fatally shot during a road rage incident in Chandler, Arizona, in November 2021. His sister, Stacey, collaborated with her husband and a friend to produce the AI-generated video, which featured Pelkey's likeness and voice, conveying messages of forgiveness and compassion.

The AI-generated Pelkey addressed his killer, Gabriel Paul Horcasitas, stating, “In another life, we probably could have been friends.” He expressed his belief in forgiveness, and in a God who forgives, saying, “I always have and I still do.” Wales wrote the script for the video, reflecting her brother's faith and forgiving nature. Judge Todd Lang, who presided over the case, was moved by the video and commented, “As angry as you are, as justifiably angry as the family is, I heard the forgiveness.” Horcasitas was sentenced to 10.5 years in prison for manslaughter.

In response, the Arizona Supreme Court has convened a steering committee focused on AI and its use in legal proceedings. Chief Justice Ann Timmer acknowledged the potential benefits of AI in the justice system. But she also cautioned against its misuse, stating, “AI can also hinder or even upend justice if inappropriately used.” Its mission includes developing guidelines and best practices to ensure the responsible use of AI, mitigating potential biases, and upholding the principles of fairness and justice.

Possible Preaching Angle:

The power of forgiveness, the importance of bearing witness to truth, and the ethical uses of technology are all integral aspects of living a Christ-centered life.

London's metropolitan police force has seen just about everything in terms of crime, and they've saved much of the evidence. A forward-thinking officer in 1874 began saving items from historic cases to show new recruits. The museum includes items like: Letters from the Jack the Ripper case, an oil drum used to dissolve murder victims in acid; Cannibal Dennis Nilsen's cooking pots; The umbrella-fired ricin bullet that the KGB used to kill a Bulgarian dissident in London during the Cold War; Items that once belonged to Charles Black, the most prolific counterfeiter in the Western Hemisphere, including a set of printing plates, forged banknotes, and a cunningly hollowed-out kitchen door once used to conceal them.

The museum houses evidence from some of the most twisted, barbaric criminal cases of recent history. It is not open to the public, as some people think it's just too gruesome for public viewing, but it is used as a teaching collection for police recruits. It also may show the monstrous side of humanity, what we have been and still are capable of doing to each other.

The day after the Trump assassination attempt, The Wall Street Journal ran a story in which they interviewed Americans about the state of our nation. The article concluded, “The weariness was palpable nationwide as The Wall Street Journal spoke with more than four dozen people about how they felt about the shooting that came close to killing a former U.S. president. They pointed fingers and expressed anger, fear, and heartbreak...”

Nearly to person, they expressed a sense of dread, saying there seems to be no good news on the horizon… But unlike other times of crisis, after 9/11 or Sandy Hook or George Floyd, this event left few Americans hopeful that any good might come out of tragedy.

A sixty-three-year-old cook said, “The world has gone to Hades in a handbasket.” A thirty-two-year-old electrician from New Orleans said, “There’s a hole in this country…We’re not sticking together.” A retired project manager said, “We’re in crisis. There is no easy solution, there’s no sound bite. We’ve lost our ability to listen or to hear.”

The article ended by focusing on a married couple in their late 40s from Austin, Texas. “They used to joke about plans to survive a zombie apocalypse,” the authors noted. “Now they talk seriously whether they can afford land outside of a city. A quiet place away from civil unrest.”

Sixteen-year-old Bronwynn Cruden’s family runs an escape room so she’s well-versed in the art of finding an exit. But last Halloween, her skills were critically important and might have helped save lives.

Cruden was doing homework at the front counter of Twisted Escape Rooms in the Vancouver Mall when she heard gunshots ringing out. Cruden said, “I heard ‘boom, boom.’ I didn’t process the first few shots because it sounded so loud and abrupt. Then it was like one after another after another.” Looking up, Cruden saw panicked families running through the mall.

Her first thought was to help those outside her business, so she unlocked the doors and ushered families inside, including a man holding a crying baby. She guided them to a back door for safety. Then, remembering the group of six people participating in an escape room game, she went back to alert them. “I didn’t know if they heard the shots or thought it was something else,” she explained.

Meanwhile, Cruden’s stepmother Wendy, who was out of town, was alerted to the situation through a motion detection notification on her phone. “When I saw that, I was just shaking,” said Wendy, who immediately called her daughter. “And of course, I’m just trying to keep her calm, too." Wendy instructed Cruden to lock herself in the back bathroom with the family’s two dogs and wait for help to arrive.

Cruden stayed in the bathroom, listening to sirens and police in the hallway, until a friend of her father arrived. She then learned that one person had died and two others had been injured in the shooting.

Recalling the chaotic scene, Cruden said, "I watched hundreds of parents running and picking up kids. It was the most people I’ve ever seen in that mall, and more kids than adults or teenagers. I’m mostly sad for the people, for the kids."

Wendy, reflecting on her stepdaughter's actions that night, said, "She did the right thing. She was very brave, and I felt like I was watching a hero when I saw the video.”

In an article in The Atlantic, Ross Andersen raises the question: "Did Humans Ever Live in Peace?"

Archeologists have long had evidence of conflict between small rival groups. And the earliest signs of war have been dated to the dawn of civilization (with the Sumerians and Egyptians). But recent discoveries at Laguardia, Spain pushes proof of our warring inclination to the dawn of agriculture. So how far does war go back in our history?

Because war is, by definition, organized violence. Hieroglyphic inscriptions tell us that more than 5,000 years ago, the first pharaoh conquered chiefdoms up and down the Nile delta to consolidate his power over Egypt. A Sumerian poem suggests that some centuries later, King Gilgamesh fended off a siege at Uruk, the world’s first city. But new findings, at Laguardia and other sites across the planet, now indicate that wars were also occurring at small-scale farming settlements all the way back to the dawn of agriculture, if not before.

For nearly a century, anthropologists have wanted to know how long people have been engaged in organized group violence. It’s not some idle antiquarian inquiry. For many, the question bears on human nature itself, and with ruinous wars ongoing in Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere, it has become more resonant. If warring among humans began only recently, then we might be able to blame it on changeable circumstances. If, however, some amount of war has been with us since our species’ origins, or earlier in our evolutionary history, it may be difficult to excise it from the human condition.

But Andersen closes his piece with a view of what he thinks is hope:

What separates us most from other species is our cultural plasticity: We are always changing, sometimes even for the better. We have found ways to end blood feuds that implicated hundreds of millions. War may be a long-standing mainstay of human life, an inheritance from our deepest past. But each generation gets to decide whether to keep passing it down.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Andersen's view is common today. It sees humanity as though in constant progress towards perfection. We currently rest at the zenith. His "hope" is for this progress to continue. But a survey of our history reveals that this view is no hope at all. It is simply doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result. That is not hope, it is insanity. There is no hope for lasting peace until the Prince of Peace appears (Isa. 9:6-7).

Judge Michelini said to the defendant, “You just don’t get it. It’s obvious to me that you feel justified. You don’t take any responsibility for the outcome of your actions.”

After those words, Michelini issued a sentence of 25 years to life in prison. The defendant, Kevin Monahan, had been convicted of second-degree murder for his involvement in the killing of 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis. Gillis was a passenger in a car that accidentally turned into Monahan’s driveway while attempting to find a friend’s house nearby. In response Monahan shot at the car, fatally injuring Gillis.

Monahan had taken the stand in his own defense, attempting to testify that what happened was an accident. But the judge was unconvinced, not only by the substance of Monahan’s words, but his demeanor during his testimony. The judge said to Monahan:

The first thing you do on the witness stand is you made a joke to the jury about them finally being able to see your face. You senselessly took the life of Kaylin Gillis and you have the gall to sit here and talk about how you plan to finish up the work on your house and race motocross in the future. You don’t deserve that. What would make you think that you deserve those things?

After Monahan’s conviction, the defense asked for leniency in sentencing. But Michelini wasn’t having it:

Any remorse you have isn’t for the harm you’ve caused. The only regret you have is that you’re finally facing the consequences for your actions. You murdered Kaylin Gillis. You shot at a car full of people and you didn’t care what would happen and you repeatedly lied about it. You deserve to spend the maximum time in prison allowable under our law, and I don’t make this decision because it’s easy. I make it because it’s what’s deserved. I make it because it’s what’s just.

At the time of the killing, Gillis’ family made a statement, praising her as a “kind, beautiful soul and a ray of light to anyone who was lucky enough to know her.”

Hannah Payne was sentenced to life in prison in December of 2023 for the 2019 shooting death of Kenneth Herring. Payne was officially convicted of felony murder, malice murder, aggravated assault, and false imprisonment.

During the original incident, Payne chased down Herring after witnessing a hit-and-run involving him and another driver on Riverdale Road.

"I just seen her outside hitting on the window. And that’s what made me just grab my phone," recalled Cameron Williams, a truck driver who recorded footage of the interaction. This evidence eventually aided the prosecution in Payne’s conviction. Williams said that he saw Payne "yelling, hitting on the window, hitting on the door.”

According to authorities, Payne initially called 911 after witnessing the traffic incident, but ignored the advice of the dispatcher who told her not to follow Herring’s car. After pursuing Herring, she got into a confrontation with him, and eventually shot him, fatally wounding him in the stomach. Because of the footage, prosecutors were able to isolate images of Payne holding her gun, standing next to Herring’s truck.

Payne later told police that Herring had shot himself with her gun; the jury, however, did not agree with her version of events. It took them only two hours of deliberation before they rendered a guilty verdict. During the sentencing, Payne fought back tears as Judge Jewell Scott handed down her life sentence with a possibility of parole.

“Mr. Herring was a human worthy of saving,” the prosecutor said, when petitioning the court for the maximum allowable sentence. “He had a family to go home to.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Incidents of road rage are becoming all too common as people struggle with mental health issues, the deterioration of society, and taking justice and retribution into their own hands in this age of lawlessness.

A Sydney police officer was recently sentenced to a two-year good behavior bond and a conviction stemming from an incident where he threatened to shoot someone. (A good behavior bond requires the offender to show good behavior for a set period under a probation officer’s supervision along with counseling.)

In this case, Constable Dominic Gaynor was sentenced for his threats to another officer while working behind the counter at the police station in Sydney’s central business district. According to court documents, officer Morgan Royston was working with Gaynor, and had just seen the Tom Cruise blockbuster film Top Gun: Maverick. In casual conversation, Royston said to Gaynor, “I’ll spoil it for you.”

Gaynor responded by telling Royston not to spoil the film, and according to witnesses, threatened to shoot Royston on the spot. According to the court document, “He pointed his firearm at the vicinity of the complainant and held it stationary for five seconds. The offender's finger was on the receiver and not the trigger. The offender was laughing throughout this incident.”

Gaynor was eventually suspended without pay, and as part of the good behavior bond, was required to perform 100 hours of community service. During sentencing, Magistrate Maher noted the “power imbalance” between the defendant and his more junior colleague, saying that a police officer was entitled to carry a firearm but that doing so was “a great responsibility.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Working in service of others requires us to always be in control of our behavior. We must allow common sense to avoid dangerous and foolish actions.

A post-traumatic bond between strangers has led to an enduring friendship across generations. At the start of the day on August 28th, 2022, Travis Connor and Ray Shields had only one thing in common: they both wore matching ponytail hairstyles. But by the end, they would be bonded by another unlikely coincidence: both were on the premises of a Safeway grocery store in east Bend when a gunman opened fire, killing two and injuring others.

When the shots rang out. 62-year-old Shields had been using crutches, but tried to grab them and run when his hip gave out and he crumpled, collapsing to the ground. 31-year-old Connor had been glued to his phone, but quickly spied Shields, put him over his shoulder, and ran to get them both out of harm’s way.

That would’ve been the end of their time together, but according to Connor, “You don’t throw somebody over your shoulder and then say bye.” The two exchanged phone numbers and made plans to reconnect. Just three days later, they received grief counseling together at Pilot Butte Middle School, which led to a series of walks and hiking trips where they shared details of their lives with each other. That year they spent Thanksgiving together, and then Christmas. Shields said, “We quite literally fell into each other’s lives.” Connor replied, “It’s a special circumstance that the normal guy has never experienced.”

After his father passed in 2016, Connor, moved to Bend to seek a new start and escape the rut in which he felt stuck. But his chance encounter with Shields helped to catalyze positive change in his life. Connor said, “When I pulled Ray from the gunfire, I felt like the person I wanted to be was there.” Shields, who has no children and for whom most of his family had moved away, felt his friendship with Connor blossom into something like kinship. “In a way, I do see Travis as my son.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Nothing bonds people together like going through difficult circumstances together. When we demonstrate loyalty, support, and encouragement, we are modeling the character of God, who promised never to leave or forsake us.

Gun violence is an ongoing problem in the city of Chicago. Now, a new study finds 56% of the city’s Black and Hispanic population, and 25% of Whites, witness a shooting by the age of 40. Researchers say residents were, on average, 14 years-old when they saw their first shooting. The findings add to growing concerns that people witnessing constant shootings may have chronic stress and other health issues related to violence.

Researchers say, “Our findings are frankly startling and disturbing. A substantial portion of Chicago’s population could be living with trauma as a result of witnessing shootings and homicides, often at a very young age. ... Since 2016 we have seen another surge in gun violence. Rates of fatal shootings in Chicago are now higher than they ever were in the nineties.”

Over seven percent of Black and Hispanic Chicagoans were shot before turning 40, compared to three percent of White people. On average, these residents were struck by gunfire by age 17.

While Chicago was the example for this study, it is not the only place in America experiencing the effects of increasing gun violence. The team believes these public health consequences apply to cities experiencing upticks in shootings across the U.S.

Eleven-year-old Aderrien Murry once held aspirations of becoming a police officer, but that changed after a recent encounter with law enforcement. Murry was with his mother Nakala late one night when a domestic disturbance broke out between her and the father of one of his siblings. Nakala asked him to call 911, and he did, asking for assistance from local police.

According to attorney Carlos Moore, representing the Murry family, the first officer on the scene was Greg Capers, who arrived with his firearm drawn. Even after Nakala told Capers that no one in the apartment was armed, she says Capers yelled out a command for anyone in the apartment to come out with their hands up. And while Aderrian was complying with the officer’s command and had his hands up, the officer shot him anyway. At a news conference, she remembered the boy’s immediate response: “Why did he shoot me? What did I do?”

A representative from the Indianola Police Department eventually confirmed Capers’ identity as the shooter, and referred to the incident as “extremely tragic on both sides.” Officials have since launched a probe into the shooting, although it’s not clear whether racial animus played a role in the shooting, since Capers, Nakala, and Aderrien Murry are all African American.

Still, the family and many members of the local community are shaken, despite the fact that Aderrien is expected to make a full recovery. Attorney Moore said, “There’s no justification for what this officer did. Aderrien came within an inch of losing his life over the officer’s reckless actions.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

In a climate of hopelessness and violence, even children can become targeted by careless officials. The way of Jesus is marked by making peace, taking care, and creating safety for everyone in the community, not just the rich or powerful.

Amidst updates about the spring football season, the official Twitter account for the University of Oregon football team posted an unusual video. It featured the voice of head coach Dan Lanning and several Oregon football players decrying the state gun violence as statistics flashed onscreen. Its conclusion: “End gun violence, choose love and unity.”

Lanning says the idea for the video came out of a series of meetings that players have every week where they are encouraged to discuss important issues outside of football. According to Lanning, it was an idea whose time had obviously come. He said:

I think it’s really convenient at times for coaches to not bring up tough subjects, but you look at the world over the last couple of months, last couple of weeks, and there’s people shot for knocking on the wrong door, pulling into the wrong driveway, mass shootings at different locations, it obviously was a topic that is important to our players. And, we feel like we have a voice to maybe do something about it.

Lanning says he was also motivated by the desire to demonstrate that players can make a difference. “The goal here is hopefully we can bring a humane response back to, how do we help save lives? That’s the point.”

Lanning says he’s felt a hunger for more substantive conversations around important issues as far back as 2020 when he was an assistant coach for the Georgia Bulldogs. He said, “I remember saying to our team at Georgia at the time, if three years later we’re not still having the same discussions and not talking about issues, we’re making a mistake.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

When we value the sanctity of human life, we honor the God who created humanity.

Community leaders in the Kansas City area have been breathing sighs of relief after the news that Ralph Yarl is expected to make a full recovery.

Sixteen-year-old Yarl was shot in the face after ringing the doorbell of the wrong home in an attempt to pick up his younger siblings. His plight went viral on social media, sparking outrage because local police initially declined to charge the shooter, 84-year-old Andrew Lester. After a series of local protests and national media coverage, Lester was charged in connection with the shooting, which prosecutors believe involved a “racial element” because Lester is white and Yarl is black.

Still, many were in high spirits after a photo began circulating of Yarl seated next to attorney Lee Merritt on an outdoor patio, smiling in the sun. Despite being in recovery from a traumatic brain injury, Yarl was referred to as “a walking miracle with a head of steel.”

Yarl’s mother said her son had a bullet in the left frontal lobe in his brain until it was removed by a team of surgeons. She said, “Had the bullet hit his head a fraction of an inch in any other direction he would probably be dead right now.”

Yarl’s aunt also provided an update: “Ralph is currently at home with his family. He can ambulate and communicate. A true miracle considering what he survived.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Even in the face of overwhelming wrongdoing and injustice, God can heal, renew, and restore.

When Tanner Cook approached Alan Colie in the food court of the Dulles Town Center mall, he was hoping to obtain prank footage for his YouTube channel. Instead, he got shot.

Security footage from the incident shows Cook approaching and following Colie for a little over a minute. After repeatedly asking Cook to go away, Colie pulled out a firearm and shot Cook in the abdomen. For the shooting Colie was charged with aggravated malicious wounding, using a firearm while committing a felony, and discharging a firearm in a building. Loudoun County attorney Buta Biberaj said,“There is nothing that would suggest, based on information we have to date, that what Cook did warranted this response.”

However, the Loudoun County attorney has not ruled out the possibility that Cook will face charges for his role in the altercation, especially if evidence showed that Cook threatened or touched Colie. She said, “You don’t know the recipient of this type of prank, where they are, or what their trauma might be — they may receive it as being a threat.” When asked if such evidence exists, she simply responded, “the collection of evidence continues.”

Jeramy Cook, Tanner’s father, thinks any potential charges would set a troublesome precedent for entertainers who specialize in public interaction. He said, “If you’re going to bring charges against my son, go bring charges against TV celebrities in prank shows. And everybody else — all the videos of people getting punked on social media — let’s make it so no one can do that anymore.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Immature and reckless behavior often results in unintended consequences. Young people need to be instructed toward mature thinking and should be taught the consequences of their actions at an early age.

When people experience the unexpected death of a friend, neighbor, or family member, it’s natural to search for answers. And sometimes the answers aren’t very satisfying.

Such has been the case for friends and neighbors of the Daub family. On January 25th, police responded to their home for a wellness check and discovered the bodies of Morgan Daub, 26, and her parents, 59-year-old Deborah and 62-year-old James, all dead from gunshot wounds.

Evidence at the scene included handwritten notes by all three individuals. These convinced lead detective Timothy Fink that the daughter’s struggles with mental illness led her to take her life, and the parents joined her in a suicide pact because they didn’t want to live without her.

Detective Fink said, “Deborah wrote that she didn’t want her daughter to pass on alone, so she had decided to end her life with her. The letter written by James indicated that they had told him their plan, and he decided that he didn’t want to live without them.”

Members of the surrounding community were shocked by the discovery. One neighbor told reporters that the family had grown isolated over the years, and had withdrawn altogether during the COVID-19 pandemic. Another neighbor across the street, Mike Landis, had pleasant memories of the Daubs, claiming that the couple had been traveling missionaries, and had offered spiritual counseling during a health crisis.

The news was especially shocking for Paula Wolfe, who was a youth coordinator at the local bowling alley where Morgan excelled as a teenager. Wolfe said, “Everybody’s just really sad about it, and just doesn’t know what to make of it. I don’t know that you could ever imagine this. But, yeah, a family that you’d never ever think that anything like this would happen.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Being isolated, in pain, and cut off from community can distort one’s thinking and warp perception. Someone who feels hopeless and isolated is in danger of hurting themselves and others.

A speeding car can be a deadly weapon all by itself, but a new survey finds many Americans make sure they’re armed when they get behind the wheel. A poll of 1,000 U.S. residents finds that a staggering 65 percent of drivers keep a weapon in their vehicle in case they need to defend themselves during a road rage incident.

The most common weapon drivers keep hidden is a knife (50%), followed by pepper spray (45%). However, 40 percent admit that they carry a gun with them while on the road. Other weapons American drivers have on hand include tire irons (39%), baseball bats (38%), hockey sticks (31%), tasers (31%), and lacrosse sticks (14%).

As for which cars you may want to stay away from if things get heated on the road, the poll finds BMW, Hyundai, and Mercedes drivers are the most likely to keep a dangerous weapon in their car.

So, what do we mean when we’re talking about “road rage”? These actions include everything from:

Speeding 40%

Honking (28%)

Brake checking another driver (26%)

Angry hand gestures (24%)

Yelling (23%)

However, things can get out of control quickly, leading some drivers to:

Chase or race other cars (20%)

Cut off vehicles on purpose (16%)

Tailgate (16%)

Point a weapon at a fellow driver (4%)

Possible Preaching Angle:

Some advice from AAA for avoiding road rage matches nicely with Scripture: Avoid honking and irritating other drivers (“Judge not, that you be not judged” Matt. 7:1). Being kind - imagine that the person ahead of you lost their job today, (“Be kind and compassionate to one another” Eph. 4:32). Don’t engage with angry motorists (“a soft answer turns away wrath” Prov. 15.1).

A small glimpse into what our heroic war veterans went through can be found in the seven-part Ken Burns documentary The War. It covers World War II from the perspective of the soldiers.

In the episode "When Things Get Tough," the narrator quotes Pulitzer Prize winning Bill Maulden, a cartoonist and writer for Stars & Stripes. It is an analogy written for those who have never fought in a war on the miseries and hardships of the American soldier, in this case with scenes from the Italian Campaign:

Dig a hole in your backyard while it is raining. Sit in the hole while the water climbs up around your ankles. Pour cold mud down your shirt collar. Sit there for 48 hours. So there is no danger of your dozing off, imagine that a guy is sneaking around waiting for a chance to club you on the head. Or set your house on fire.

Get out of the hole, fill a suitcase full of rocks, pick it up, put a shotgun in your other hand, and walk on the muddiest road you can find. Fall flat on your face every few minutes, as you imagine big meteors streaking down beside you. If you repeat this performance every three days, for several months, you may begin to understand why an infantryman gets out of breath. But you still won't understand how he feels when things get tough.

Biblical prophecy mentions huge numbers of horses in end time battles. Is this just a figure of speech or is there something more to it? A secular video produced by Not What You Think describes the practicality of using mules/horses in modern warfare. The video says:

Supply lines are crucial in modern warfare. Armies must supply their soldiers with weapons, ammunition, fuel, water, medicine, and equipment. Before you dismiss the idea of pack animals being used in modern battlefields, consider this: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) spent $42 million dollars developing a robot packhorse known as Legged Squad Support System (LS3). The LS3 was supposed to help marines and soldiers carry up to 400 pounds of supplies. But it turned out to be a flop. Not only was its range limited by fuel, it would constantly break down, and worst of all it was (very) loud (making a loud noise like a motorcycle).

Mules are often called the AK-47s of logistics for their rugged utility. A mule costs only a few thousand dollars compared to ground tactical vehicles that can cost $350,000 dollars apiece. Pack animals can reliably carry hundreds of pounds of water, fuel, munitions, and equipment in terrain that is too difficult for motor vehicles to traverse. Compared to vehicles, mules are also harder to detect either optically, or with radar or infrared. Pack animals have been used for thousands of years. For example, during World War II, German logistics were supplied by more than 600,000 horses.

A big problem for ground vehicles is that they require fuel. And a lot of it. A defense science board estimates that by tonnage, as much as 70% of supplies needed to sustain army operations is fuel. And that’s a big problem. Modern weapons, such as drones and portable guided missile systems can destroy supply convoys in no time. The Russian experience in Ukraine is a perfect example of this. Pack animals don’t need fuel, as they can survive on water and forage for food in their environment. Relying on pack animals also reduces the need for spare parts and costly maintenance of ground vehicles.

The warfare of the future calls for simple, cheap, and portable platforms that do not need a decade to be designed and tested. The plan that is currently in the works is calling for the use of pack animals, such as mules and horses. Pack animals might be the best option for supply logistics in mountainous and wooded regions. Currently, the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center teaches marines and army special forces how to employ and care for pack animals. There are growing calls within the Pentagon to expand the use of pack animals in the future.

You can view the video here (time marker 4:23 to 7:56).

Possible Preaching Angle:

This interesting video supports the Bible prophecies that indicate that the battles of the end times will be carried out using horses (Rev. 19:18-19) and ancient weapons, such as bows and arrows and swords (Ezek. 38:4; 39:3, 9-10). Some Bible scholars believe that these references may simply be the best description the ancient prophet could give of modern warfare. But others say that these prophecies may indicate that due to the Antichrist’s peace treaty (Dan. 9:27, etc.) there will be universal disarmament (“unwalled, defenseless villages” Ezek. 38:11) and that the warfare of the last days will utilize non-tech weapon systems.

On Sunday, May 15th, 2022, an assailant opened fire at Geneva Presbyterian Church, resulting in one death and five injuries. Authorities are crediting the quick actions of Dr. John Cheng as the factor preventing more deaths. Cheng sustained fatal injuries while tackling the shooter, a tactic that allowed others to quickly subdue the gunman afterward.

Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said, “Literally the meeting of good versus evil, between Dr. Cheng and the suspect in this case. Without the actions of Dr. Cheng, it is no doubt that there would be numerous additional victims in this crime.”

Barnes was effusive in his praise for Dr. Cheng, particularly in that his actions suggested premeditation and forethought. “I don't think that was a spontaneous act. I think he had thought this through in his mind, if something were to happen, 'What would I do?' And he acted on it. He saved the lives of probably upwards of dozens of people the way this individual was prepared."

Cheng lived in nearby Laguna Niguel, and served as sports medicine physician for the South Coast Medical Group. According to officials from Aliso Niguel High School, Cheng also volunteered as team physician for the football team and made several generous donations to the football program.

In a statement on the school’s website, they lauded his contributions to their community. “Dr. Cheng was a great man, a proud father, husband and always genuine. He always had a smile on his face. Hearing the news of his death is devastating as he just performed our annual athletic physicals last week. He is gone too soon, and we will miss him dearly.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Modeling the unconditional love of Christ means there are times when we might be called to put ourselves in harm's way for the benefit of others who might not be able to defend themselves.