Our Street Gang Mentality

Kids in the hood know not to look just anyone in the eye on the streets.  It could get you killed.  That is the world we live in today.  Attack anyone who may confront you whether intentional or not.  People seek out anything they can find offensive in some way to justify attacking the source regardless of original intent.  The offense need not be personal.  It could have affected ancestors living in different times under different circumstances.  What seems odd is the fact that it may take years or centuries before some group decides they are being offended. 

Athletic teams with ethnic mascots have come under fire.  The University of Illinois was pressured to eliminate their long revered American Indiana mascot.  The Cleveland Indians and Washington Redskins have also been criticized for their names and logos.   Team nicknames are chosen to instill pride rather than ridicule even if logo caricatures may seem exaggerated or stereotypical.  I am not saying some might find them offensive, but are people so insecure that they must make it an issue?  How long before an animal rights group decides the Detroit is insulting Lions and Tigers?

Now we find ourselves removing confederate memorials.  Okay, but the Civil War has been over for quite some time.  Why now?  Removing memorials does not change history or remove hatred.  If we refuse to remember anyone who once held an unpopular belief, few memorials will remain.  Perhaps they should have never been erected in the first place, but they are now a part of history.

As I write this, Hurricane Irma is devastating much of the southeast with damaging winds and flooding.  During such disasters, much is made of people of all races banding together in a show of brotherhood.  In times of crisis, we tend to forget all that divides us.  Could it be that all of our gang-like confrontations come about because we have life too easy?  We wonder sometimes why God allows such tragedies to occur.  Do we need natural disasters to keep us aware of our frail humanity and our dependence on one another regardless of our ethnic circumstances?  Is it possible that as life becomes more laid-back, that tensions among us arise?  What in our nature impels us to seek an enemy whether real or imagined?  We have all heard the old saying, an idle mind is the devils workshop.  How true it seems to be. 

On Sunday, September 17, we hear this reading from Sirach:

Sir 27:30—28:7

Wrath and anger are hateful things,
yet the sinner hugs them tight.
The vengeful will suffer the LORD's vengeance,
for he remembers their sins in detail.
Forgive your neighbor's injustice;
then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.
Could anyone nourish anger against another
and expect healing from the LORD?
Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself,
can he seek pardon for his own sins?
If one who is but flesh cherishes wrath,
who will forgive his sins?
Remember your last days, set enmity aside;
remember death and decay, and cease from sin!
Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor;
remember the Most High's covenant, and overlook faults.