Ending Fear

Fear is a driving force in so much of life. The phenomena of fight or flight. Over the years there have been legitimate fears, and so many fears that are irrational. But when fear moves our society toward hatred, bitterness, and brutality, it is time to rethink who we really are as a people.

I guess it is time in Ferguson, Missouri to forego the work of a Grand Jury, a Court, legal representation, and a jury of one’s peers. It is time for a mob to convict and execute based on the need to save a city and its inhabitants. Surely, one man, even if innocent, should be sacrificed for the well-being of so many.

Throughout the St. Louis area, citizens fear the riots that engulfed the city over the summer are about to return. A grand jury deliberating whether to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the Aug. 9 shooting death of Michael Brown is expected to come to a decision this month, perhaps as soon as late this week. And amid a steady drip of leaks that appear to corroborate Wilson’s  account of the encounter, protesters are readying for the possibility that the officer won’t be indicted on murder or manslaughter charges. (TIME)

Is this what we have come to? It reminds me of the anger and violence of the 60’s. It reminds me of “South Central” Los Angeles all those years ago. It reminds me of the hatred and bitterness that engulfed our Savior 2000 years ago in the city of Jerusalem. Have we learned nothing at all?

It may be that there is only one living human being who knows what happened that day in the matter about which we speak. If we just convict and execute him, all will be well. Seems simple enough, right?