Do we say it's his wife's fault ...she drove him to drink? Or do we blame the children for challenging his first drink ...stating, that if they would have just left him to his moderation, it would not have gotten out-of-control?
Or we could say the angry outbursts are just freedom of expression ...after all, it is necessary venting? And it is his home ...he can do what he wants with it. He can destroy his child's room if he wants, even if that quiet room is within his wife's womb. I admit, this makes me angry just typing such unbelievable rationalization ...yet, there are always reasons given. And unbelievably, people accept those reasons.
We could take it a bit further ...because it has gone farther in some segments of our society. But, let me say, that if the violence got so bad that the police were called, do we also blame the police for interfering in good and healthy domestic quarrels?
As a parent, I have been accused of being overprotective. And if I felt my family was in danger of an angry rage, moved by a mob mentality ...I would notify the authorities. We have that privilege in our country, at least at this juncture of our country's existence. And when I say "our country", I'm referring to where we reside. I am not responsible, nor in agreement with everything that goes on here, but I still feel we live in one of the most protected areas in the world ...which also protects our cherished freedoms.
But, what of other countries? They have peace-loving people whose peace hangs by a thread ...a quickly unraveling one. Their peace depends on their cooperation with a ruling power that is nothing like what they'd aspire to. The most known example of troublesome resolve is in the Middle East. And many of us who live in peace in this country, somehow are dissatisfied ...and have the wild idea that we can somehow associate with the madness through some understanding on our part. But, our understanding is often limited to the equivalent of scooting up to someone at the bar and joining them for a drink. And the more we drink in what we know little about, our emotions begin to rise ...and our rational mind hits new lows, becoming a bit irrational.
Many Palestinians live within Israel. Those who do not, are subject to whatever ruling power forces their agenda upon them. Yes, they become educated ...but mostly educated in hate. And some do hate. There are those who do not hate, but their homes may be used as bases for offensive action. Our approach is often to only feel sorry for those in the home ...and not work to do the equivalent of taking the angry drunk out of the home.
I heard of the 'celebration of democracy' as Egypt's ruling party shifted power. I did not see anything to celebrate in the violence I saw, among much destruction and even rape. Rape and pillage is the cruel path of heathen barbarians. Yet, there were those in our country who said it was a celebration of freedom and democracy. Look at them now ...they do not look like a people of new found freedoms. And we need to be extremely cautious, as that which appears as something we'd want, may turn out like the inspired youth of Hitler's regime. I recall a rally call for unity ---perhaps the unions would like to try their hand in it---in the spirit of Egypt, of course. And I also recall being asked to join something I thought was strangely disturbing in our own country ---to vote for "revenge".
If you feel sorry for the people, I'm right there with you ...but I'm not holding the bottle of rage, and saying, "I'll drink to that!" I'm for getting the bottle out of the house, if needs be, getting the drunk out too. But, if we remove the drunk and replace him with drug addicts ...that is not a good thing.
Most of us want to protect our own families. But if the angry drunk next door has raised his children to be angry also ...and we fear the safety of our own children is at stake, wouldn't we, as good parents, attempt to do something. We can't run the neighbor's household, but we can attempt to protect ourselves from them. And if we have to meet their violence with a significant enough force to stem their violence ...it may get ugly. So, before the poor children become just like the angry dad ...if we really do care about them, don't take the side resulting from behavior of an angry dad. You can also care for a person addicted to drugs, but if you really care ...then isn't it best if we can help them get off the drugs? And better yet, if we can get rid of the person supplying the drugs. In this case, it's the person supplying the anger. It's the person supplying the lie, the deception ...it's the easy path of deceit when much of God's leading is also removed.
An additional note: God's leading cannot be removed ...it can only be removed from within you, by you own choice. Then, I shudder to think how you'd be actually removing yourself.
One more note: The world is not a stage for our cruel entertainment ...it is real, and real serious. And God takes it seriously.
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