Kids Who Kill: Confronting Our Culture of Violence is a 1998 non-fiction book by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and Evangelical Christian author and pastor George Grant.

Kids Who Kill: Confronting Our Culture of Violence
Cover of the first edition
AuthorsMike Huckabee
George Grant
LanguageEnglish
SubjectJuvenile delinquency
Published1998
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint
ISBN978-0805417944

The book is a response to the school shootings carried out by teenagers, arguing that these tragedies are the result of a society in decline, and that abortion, pornography, media violence, premarital sex, divorce, drug abuse and homosexuality were among the causes of the decline.[1][2]

Contents

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Huckabee and Grant argue that the breakdown of the family structure leads to childhood crime, as well as to a high level of other immoral acts. They detail these themes in his outline of the book (pp. 4-5) as follows:[3]

  • "We'll explore the notion that at the heart of [juvenile criminal violence] are the questions of character, virtue, and cultural cohesion.
  • "The various contributing factors of America's cultural demoralization are examined [including] a disregard for the value of life.
  • "We'll develop the notion that the key to our recovery is the vitality of America's basic values: faith, family, work, and community."

The book caused some controversy when, in December 2007, several news sources, including Mother Jones, reported that the book equates environmentalism with pornography, homosexuality with necrophilia, and nonbelievers with "evildoers".[1] During the 1998 Arkansas gubernatorial race, Democratic nominee Bill Bristow criticized Huckabee for making money off of the Jonesboro massacre.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b Mike Huckabee: Playing Both Sides of the Pulpit
  2. ^ Conason, Joe (24 January 2008). "Happy Huck?". Memphis Flyer.
  3. ^ Gordon, Jesse. "OnTheIssues.org book review of Kids Who Kill" OnTheIssues Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  4. ^ Barone, Michael; Grant Ujifusa (1999). The Almanac of American Politics. Washington, DC. pp. 137. ISBN 0-8129-3194-7. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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