A VIGILANTE LYNCHING
A barbaric lynching of two men took place in Gharbeya, Egypt earlier this week and not a single person intervened to stop it. It happened at a bus station in the middle of the morning in broad daylight in the center of town. Hundreds of “spectators” watched as two men were beaten to death by a mob. When questioned later, much of the crowd had no idea what these two men were even accused of. Some thought they had stolen a rickshaw while others heard they tried to kidnap a woman. But no one knew all the facts, and no one really cared if they knew all the facts. All they cared about was that something was finally being done about all the horrific crime they were living with day after day. Finally there would be some justice, and finally someone would pay.
One of the men lynched was a 21 year-old man whose family got word that the lynching was going on. When they arrived on the scene, the father said that it seemed like the whole town was there and that everyone was rooting for the attackers. No matter how desperately he pleaded, he could not get anyone to help him stop the assault. After the lynching was over, many even tried to set fire to the ambulance that took the bodies away. Worse than all of this, however, was the fact that not even the police would intervene … and so far, not a single person has been arrested or even questioned about the lynching.
This type of vigilantism is not just occurring in Egypt or in the Middle East. It is happening everywhere and is becoming more and more prevalent. As the people become increasingly frustrated with government corruption and lack of security and protection, they no longer trust that anyone is looking after them. No matter how much they protest, nothing ever changes. The natural result is that they will seek vengeance by taking the law in their own hands, and without even realizing it, we have just stepped back in time to the Wild West where “volunteers” were often the only ones who brought law and order to a community.
What would often happen in the Wild West is that the accused never got his day in court, and this is exactly what occurred in Egypt this week. No one even knows for sure what crimes were committed or whether these men were even guilty. There was no due process, no judge or jury. They were never even questioned. They were brutally and severely beaten and then strung up on a pole. And the people cheered.
But even if these men were guilty, and even if the crimes they committed were severe, this type of brutal vigilantism does nothing but perpetuate more anger and more hatred. Does anything positive really result from it? Is there any satisfaction or peace? If you disagree, then let me have you look at it another way. Step in the shoes of the friends and loved ones of the men who were lynched and try to imagine how YOU would feel if this happened to a member of your family. See yourself running to try and save him, see yourself begging and pleading for the beatings to stop, see yourself imploring the police to do something, anything. See the ENTIRE community turn their back on you, and then tell me that you will not be so full of hatred and vengeance yourself that you will not retaliate in some way? You will want to do the exact same thing to another neighbor’s child so that they will know exactly what it feels like, so they can hurt like you hurt. And it goes on and on and on.
Vengeance can play out on a small scale in your own neighborhood or it can go viral. We see it every day on the news. It could be one individual retaliating against another, or a sports team or other organization seeking revenge on its competition. Or on a more global scale, it could be one nation or one religion seeking retribution from another. Regardless, the result is the same. When you attack brutally (or militarily) without mercy and without due process of law, you have created an ENEMY FOR LIFE. You may have gained control for the moment, but the minute your defenses are down and your back is turned, they will retaliate as soon as they can. Not only will they never forget WHAT you did to them, they will never forget HOW you did it either.
Copyright © 2013 (Michelle Parsons, Getting Back on Your Path). All Rights Reserved.
