Mob Mentality

This morning at work Lucas told me about a story that has been on the news the last couple days involving two 13 year old girls who were fighting over a pair of shorts. One of the girls was not just yelling and slapping the other, but brutally beating her with repeated blows to the face and yanking on her hair. It was horrendous and I later saw the video online and immediately wanted to cry. But it wasn't AS MUCH about the more brutal of the girls losing control, but because of the people that fed her brutality. The parents and grandparents of the girl as well as other children surrounding the backyard brawl are CHEERING HER ON. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!?! They are yelling words of encouragement to beat the girl! To hit her, to get back in the fight! They make her feel PROUD of how much she can hurt another child.

Over shorts.

Frankly, I don't care what she did.

The mindset of these adults who are encouraging this evil mob mentality in children makes me want to vomit. I feel so sick and disturbed hearing about this horrible parenting. What are their girls going to grow up learning? What are they learning. They are receiving praise for harming others. For losing control and lashing out maliciously to those who offend you.

They are arming the future wrong-doers with a false reality. Making them believe that this is not as horrible as it really is. Creating in them an understanding that what we put others through is inconsequential, and what really matters is that we come out of every fight victorious. That we do whatever it takes, no matter what the cost to others, or to our integrity, our honor, our COMPASSION, to be the one with the power, and "the bigger stick".


What has surprised me more, is to see people I know have compassion tell me that they don't believe this behavior to be wrong. That if their children got into a fight, they would also cheer them on as they fought back. Excuse me? Cheer them on?

You wouldn't want to teach your children to turn the other cheek? As JESUS teaches us? You wouldnt want to step in and teach your children to rise above the temptation to fall victim to anger and pride? To have compassion on our enemies? You wouldn't want YOUR child to be the one to refuse to fight back or to step away from the fight and find a way to resolve an issue with honor? Why not? Because its less entertaining? Because for some reason people like watching people get hurt.
This is something I will never understand.

Tonight we watched the first episode of the JOHN ADAMS film. It is amazing. But it shows again the horrible thing that happens to people when they are encouraged to give in to hatred. It showed of the tarring and feathering of men who were not innocent, but still did not deserve a punishment at the hands of a mob out of control. It boggled me yet again to see what people can do, what HORRIBLE EVIL things people can ENJOY doing, all because they have the applause of a group of bloodthirsty people.




This world is a scary one, and today has been one of those days where I realize that Molly has been given a blessing bigger than anything I could have given her at this time. The blessing of being raised in a world where minds and hearts will be turned towards the things that matter. Towards each other, and towards the Lord. She is so lucky, and I am so Lucky to be there with her.