On Aug. 16, 2013 in Duncan Oklahoma, Australian Baseball player, Christopher Lane, jogged through the warm Oklahoma sun without a care or fear in the world. Unbeknownst to him, these would be his last few breathing moments. Lane was targeted for a random drive-by shooting, and was gunned down in the middle of the streets of Duncan.

Chancey Luna, 16, James Edwards Jr., 15 and Michael Jones, 17, are being held in the Stephens county jail for murdering Lane. The young criminals are being tried as adults for first-degree murder charges and accessory to first-degree murder. The individuals accused of Lane?s death are unrepentant. When asked why they targeted and murdered Lane, they responded, ?We were bored.?

When I read about what happened to Lane I was appalled, and disgusted with the actions of these young thugs, but not surprised. The culture of America is deteriorating at a rapid pace. Our morals and ethics have evaporated into thin air, practically invisible. Each day I hear of more shootings, more killings and more bodies hitting the hard pavement.

Theft and robbery have become a part of life, it is just what happens to you if you leave your car door open, or your house door unlocked. No one sleeps in his or her bed at night without fear of being broken into anymore, our cities and towns have become too dangerous to trust anyone, let alone leave our doors open.

What has happened to our nation? Where did we go wrong? When did we allow depravity, sin and crime to run rampant through our streets? Many would attribute this rise in criminal activity to the hemorrhaging economy. Without money or a job, people turn to crime in order to make ends meet. Sadly, it is not as simple as pointing a finger at the economy, the problem lies deeper within.

The reason why America?s morals and ethics have all but been obliterated is idle hands, lack of family values and absence of faith in God. Without work, without a proper family, without a faith in God, without these things people lose their reason for existing. When we lose our way, when we lose our reason to live, we do anything to find some purpose, some meaning to our lives, something to fill that void.

In the case of the young criminals, they turned to crime to fill the void in their hearts. Their idle hands, their lack of family values and their absence of faith turned them and warped them into monsters.

How then do we change? How do we get back to our once wholesome, good, righteous America? I visited Marlow, Oklahoma, which is just a few miles from Duncan, for a family reunion about a week ago. I met my great-great aunt, Francis Watkins, who was born in Marlow 88 years ago and lived much of her life in Duncan, OK. When I asked her about the tragedy in Duncan, this is what she had to say:

“I think it?s just horrible,” Watkins said. “I used to live in Duncan and I always felt safe there; It’s just so horrible what happened. I think the only way we can get back to that once good, wholesome America is have parents start parenting their children and to get people back to actual work.”

The only way we can reverse our rapidly deteriorating morality is to return to a life of constructive work, family, a faith and truth to devote our lives to. With good family values we learn to discern between right and wrong, good and evil. With busy lives we find a purpose for living, and keep our minds sharpened and on task. With faith we find the ultimate reason for existence.

Without faith in God everything else falls apart. Without him we lose our purpose, our way, our life, everything. We must turn our backs to the ways of this world, return to God, the rest will follow after we return to him.

If you are a high school student and reading this, you may think, “Well how does this affect me? I don?t live in Duncan; I don?t even live in Oklahoma. How could this one murder possibly mean anything to me?? Whether you like it or not it does affect you. When people our age or younger go out and start killing others just to ease their boredom what does that say about us as a generation? The burden is on our shoulders as well. We cannot let murder and mayhem and this savagery define us as a generation.

To emphasize my point I turn to the book Romans. Romans 12: 2 says:

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God?s will is- his good, pleasing, and perfect will.”

The choice is yours. Will you conform to this world, and sink into its bottomless pit of filth? Or will you rise above it, and be transformed into a beautiful, new complete being? Rise or fall, its up to you.

This author can be reached via Twitter: @RRoggenstein. Follow The Feather via Twitter: @thefeather.

For more opinions, read the Sept. 20 article, President reminisces campus highlights.