Yesterday I posted about Facebook and brought up a story about a man in Indonesia (Alexander Aan) who was arrested on January 20 for posting "God does not exist" on a Facebook page.
Those of us who live in "free" countries are pretty naive, a bit spoiled, and do not understand what it is like to live in a truly oppressive nation. We think we do, we protest against all kinds of injustices, we want to testify before Congress because the university we chose to attend does not include prescription contraceptive coverage [link] but it is truly a tempest in a tea pot compared to Mr. Aan's story. Mr Ann has been beaten and arrested and may end up spending up to 5 years in prison plus there are powerful groups in Indonesia (his country) calling for his beheading. Ms Fluke was called a "slut."Recently, an unarmed young (17 years old) black man was killed by a Neighborhood Watch captain and the police did not, and have not yet, arrested the man who killed him. A tragedy, no doubt. I have been reading about this case and I believe I understand why the police did not arrest him. Mr. Zimmerman (the shooter) made more than a few mistakes that night before he fired his gun. He followed the young man, he confronted the young man, and (he alleges) ended up in a scuffle which resulted in the shooting and the death of the young man.
But the things I have been reading scare me. Not because there are people with guns (legally) in Florida who might shoot me during a misunderstanding but because there are people all over this country who have, like those in Indonesia with Mr. Aan, are calling for the death of Mr. Zimmerman. Not all of them, mind you, but plenty. And there are columnists writing stories that stir up these emotions. And people speaking out on TV who, instead of urging calm and reason, are demanding "justice" much like those in Indonesia. They are calling for Mr. Zimmerman's arrest, they are feeding the emotions surrounding the case. They are playing to the mob.
We are devolving. Our nation is sinking into raw emotion. We are becoming supportive of mob rule. We are eschewing reason in favor of blood lust.
It is wrong... and I am greatly saddened and full of fear for my country and the world.
2 comments:
And it is as ever it was.
Hard to believe the goings on of the Jerry Springer studio has become standard practice outside it. As always one must consider the source, many of these people calling for the head of Zimmerman are rascists- Zimmerman more than likely being white- but Zimmerman did kill someone. He should be arrested a soon as enough evidence is collected that proves his guilt.
We seem to be falling down that "rabbit hole"... For years, we tried to move toward reason and the rule of law and away from mob rule but no more. I am starting to believe it is by design.
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