Picture the scene: a mother straightening her child’s collar before drop-off; a father whispering, “Be good, I’ll see you after school”; children filing into the sanctuary where an inscription proclaims it as “the House of God and the gate of Heaven.”

Then, horror. On August 27, an 8-year-old and 10-year-old were shot and killed when 23-year-old “Robin” Westman opened fire through the stained glass windows of Annunciation Catholic Church while children attended Mass. The shooting began just before 8:30 a.m. during a worship service to mark the first week of school.

We’ve discipled a generation to crave applause — even if it comes through destruction.

What should have been the safest place became a scene of carnage.

The suspect — armed with a rifle, a shotgun, and a pistol — fired dozens of rounds into the sanctuary as children sat in pews, praying. Westman was later found dead in the back of the church from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

FBI Director Kash Patel said the FBI is investigating the shooting as an “act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics” — words that should make every Christian in America sit up and pay attention.

The facts reveal a pattern

Suspect Robin Westman graduated from Annunciation Catholic’s grade school in 2017, and a woman with the same name as Westman’s mother previously worked at the church where the shooting took place.

Westman identified as transgender, and in 2020, when he was 17 years old, his mother signed a consent form for him to legally change his name from Robert to Robin because he “identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.”

The attack was premeditated. Police say the shooter placed wooden two-by-fours through the door handles of two separate exits of the church, which police say required prior planning. The suspect also posted a manifesto on YouTube (since taken down) filled with angry rantings about, among many other things, a dream to “kill innocent children.”

This wasn’t random violence — it was a calculated assault on a Christian institution during worship.

And it’s eerily similar to a 2023 attack on the Covenant School in Nashville by a transgender killer who was also a former student and who wrote a manifesto revealing a vendetta against white Christian children.

The futility of identity without Christ

Our culture promises freedom in self-expression, but the writings of these shooters tell the truth: Self-made identities don’t set anyone free; they enslave.

When identity becomes idolatry, it demands worship. And when the idol disappoints — when the new name, the new gender, the new pronouns can’t deliver peace — the result is despair, rage, and destruction.

RELATED: Trans-identifying man with a ‘twisted mind’ said, ‘I want to die,’ before opening fire on Catholic Mass in Minneapolis

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Paul warned us in Romans 1: Exchange the truth of God for a lie, and futility follows. Darkened hearts, disordered passions, and ultimately death — that is exactly what we see in these stories. Young men and women convinced they could reinvent themselves apart from the God who made them, only to discover that the god of self is a cruel master.

The Covenant shooter’s journals revealed a heart consumed by confusion, obsession, and suicidal ideation. The Minneapolis shooter’s life echoed the same pattern — an identity unmoored from truth, a soul collapsing inward. These are not outliers. They are the predictable fruit of a culture that preaches, “You are whoever you say you are.”

The idol of infamy

The Covenant shooter’s journals revealed another obsession — not just with killing but with being known for it. The Minneapolis shooter also fantasized about being made famous in museum exhibits and imagined documentaries, and he dreamed of leaving a mark through blood. That’s not just violence. That’s worship.

This is the modern Tower of Babel: “Let us make a name for ourselves” (Genesis 11:4). But the bricks aren’t stacked stones, they’re stacked bodies. The altar isn’t on a desert plain, it’s in a classroom. When identity fails to satisfy, the idol of infamy steps in to whisper, “At least they’ll remember your name.”

Our culture feeds that idol daily. TikTok fame. Instagram clout. The myth that 15 minutes of recognition is worth a lifetime of obscurity. We’ve discipled a generation to crave applause — even if it comes through destruction.

But Scripture reminds us: The only legacy that matters is one hidden with Christ. “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). The names that endure are not the names carved into headlines but the names written in the Book of Life.

Minnesota's gun laws couldn't stop evil

In knee-jerk fashion, almost immediately after the news of the shooting broke, Minnesota’s local, state, and federal politicians began calling for more gun control. But here’s what they won’t tell you: Minnesota maintains some of the nation’s strictest gun control measures. The state requires universal background checks, enforces “red flag” laws, mandates waiting periods for handgun purchases, and prohibits certain firearm accessories. All three weapons used by Westman were purchased legally and recently.

Romans 1 isn’t just theology; it’s predictive sociology.

Yet, two children are dead and 17 were wounded by gun violence in Minnesota’s largest city.

Every law the gun control lobby demands was already in place. Every “common sense” restriction leftists claim will stop mass shootings was on the books. Yet, evil found a way — because evil always does when hearts are darkened and truth is rejected.

The problem isn’t access to firearms — it’s the spiritual disease eating away at young hearts in a culture that worships lies and delusions. When identity becomes idolatry, when self-invention replaces submission to God’s design, when we tell children they can be whoever they want to be apart from their Creator, when truth is exchanged for lies, the result is predictably destructive and death follows. Romans 1 isn’t just theology; it’s predictive sociology.

The church in the crosshairs

Wednesday’s tragedy in Minneapolis marks another targeted attack on a Christian institution, and the pattern is impossible to ignore:

• Nashville, 2023: the Covenant School massacre that targeted Presbyterian children and teachers.
• Minneapolis, 2025: Annunciation Catholic School is attacked during Mass.
• Nationwide since 2022: Dozens of pregnancy centers have been firebombed and hundreds of churches have been vandalized — Christian institutions are under relentless assault across America.

While schools of various affiliations have been targets of violence, since Roe v. Wade was overturned, Family Research Council statistics show a marked increase in attacks specifically targeting Christian institutions. FRC documented 57 pro-abortion acts of hostility against churches in 2022 alone, compared to only five such incidents combined from 2019 to 2021.

The pattern reveals directed hostility that goes beyond random violence.

Notice what we don’t see: Shooters storming mosques, gunmen targeting secular private academies, or attacks on progressive gatherings. The hostility is directed, deliberate, and spiritual in nature.

The massacre at Annunciation Catholic Church wasn’t just another tragedy; it was a revelation of where our culture now stands.

Jesus told us plainly: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you ... because you are not of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:18-19).

This isn’t random violence; it’s targeted hostility against the cross. The spirit of this age is not neutral. It is anti-Christ. And Satan doesn’t waste bullets on secular idols; he wages war against the Bride of Christ.

The response that matters

Not surprisingly, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) used the tragedy as an opportunity for political posturing. He slammed those who offered their “thoughts and prayers” and tried to shift the conversation about the “real” victims of this tragedy, stating, “Anybody who is using this as an opportunity to villainize our trans community, or any other community out there, has lost their sense of common humanity.”

But asking hard questions about the spiritual and psychological state of mass shooters isn’t “villainizing” — it’s seeking truth about the cultural forces producing these tragedies. The mayor’s deflection reveals how our leaders refuse to confront the deeper issues.

Meanwhile, “within seconds” of the gunfire, Annunciation’s “heroic staff moved students under the pews.” Adults protected children. Older children shielded younger ones. Even in a time of panic and horror, the church demonstrated the sacrificial love of Christ.

The call forward: No more games

The massacre at Annunciation Catholic Church wasn’t just another tragedy; it was a revelation of where our culture now stands. Even in a city with some of the strictest gun laws in America, children died because we’ve created a society that worships lies about identity, celebrates self-invention, and rejects the God who defines us.

The world tells us to “find ourselves.” Jesus tells us to “lose ourselves.” One path ends in headlines of blood. The other ends in eternal life.

Two children went to school on August 27 and never came home. Their blood cries out, not only for our prayers, but for us to confront the spiritual crisis producing such evil, to reject the lies that fuel it, and to stand firm on the truth that transforms hearts.

This article is adapted from an essay originally published at Liberty University's Standing for Freedom Center.