In a nation where even the poorest citizens can find a hot meal at a church, a homeless shelter or even a jail cell, where cellphones are nearly a human right, where extensive government support structures have all but eliminated the kind of human suffering experienced every day in much of the rest of the world, some vital connection with the harshness of life has been lost.

A surprising corollary to that observation is that some vital connection to love is gone.

We are a people carrying electronic maps of the world in our pockets, yet we seem to have lost our way. We are a people quick to express outrage over the latest iteration of human depravity and carnage, yet we stifle a yawn at the individual acts of hatred and violence that fill the news at 11 p.m. every single day.

America feeds the world, but most Americans would cross the street to avoid the disheveled, dirty vagrant begging for food on the sidewalk. We sing, “All you need is love,” and then spew vile words of hatred and contempt for those who make the unforgiveable mistake of holding a different political viewpoint.

We protest discrimination and bigotry and then stereotype and condemn entire segments of our society based on where they live and whether they agree with us about gun control, global warming or the Big Bang theory.

As the nation had begun to learn the true horror of the murders of nine students at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., on Thursday, President Obama had at least one thing to say that cannot be denied, whether one is a Republican or a Democrat, a gun-control advocate or a Second Amendment stalwart. “Somehow, this has become routine,” he said. “The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine. The conversation in the aftermath of it — we’ve become numb to this.”

The president was referring specifically to the news of mass public shootings. He’s probably right about the sad routineness of such news. But Americans have become numb to all manner of actual suffering and blind to all kinds of true evil.

The president and others can argue in favor of gun control — and maybe one day succeed in outlawing firearms. But that won’t do a thing to solve the real problem to which we’ve become numb. That won’t begin to erase the evil that grows in a narcissistic society filled with people convinced the universe owes them happiness, regardless of the cost to those around them.

Our nation has, indeed, become numb. But the numbness is the cause of atrocities such as the Oregon shooting, not the result. The same numbness that causes us to demonize those who hold different political or social views is different only in scope from the numbness that allows a murderer to shoot nine random people to death on a college campus.

Jesus Christ talked about this when he was explaining on Mt. Olivet about how the Old Testament laws were intended to regulate people’s hearts, not just their actions.

“You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.” (Matthew 5:21-22 NLT)

It’s past time in America to deal with the numbness. It’s time for a nationwide lesson in love. The Sermon on the Mount is a good place to start.