Have We Really Come That Far?

I recently read the blog of a good friend of mine. W/o any discussion betwixt us, it seems we have somehow found similar causes to write about our perceived social problems. Therefore, in the spirit of unspoken cooperation, I feel it to be my responsibility to speak on something my friend has already touched on briefly. I apologize for the string of critiques this blog has authored of late, but these things have been on my mind a while. It's just taken some time to coax them out.

Nearly ten years ago - this December - a woman named Laci Peterson died at the hands of her husband, Scott Peterson. For those of you too young, old, or unaware of the situation 10 years ago, here's the wiki >>article<<.

The case was a big one; it was here in California, anyhow. If I recall, the crime itself occurred here, which explains why it was plastered all over the news. What became so difficult about the case was that the suspect, Scott Peterson, was difficult to convict. Back then, it felt to me as if the case dragged on for a very long time. But maybe that's the young-child-perceiving-time-effect. Regardless: though his wife died in 2002 and it took over 7 months to discover her body, Scott Peterson wasn't convicted until 2005.

What stuck w/ me the most was what I saw the day Peterson was convicted of murder. I watched the news w/ my parents as a packed crowd stood in anxious anticipation outside the court house. The cameras were sure to catch the reaction of the crowd the moment the verdict came down.

Guilty.

And they...cheered. The whole crowd erupted in applause. In shouts of triumph. I'd go so far as to say they were genuinely happy.

Understand: I would never for a second try and belittle the heinous nature of Peterson's crimes. Nor do I think those close to the Peterson situation did not deserve justice. Absolutely not. Our justice system did well, I think, in their investigation and final sentence - Death.

But when I saw all those people cheering - celebrating - the decision to kill someone, something inside me whispered "This doesn't feel right...". To acknowledge, formally, that this man really had killed his pregnant wife, dumped her in a river, and tried to skip town; this, if nothing else, brought genuine anguish to my heart. But to celebrate that he would die for his crimes. To end his life. And to be happy about it. That's what got me.

Whatever happened to our advanced, evolved, and refined culture, hm? I saw this and understood that, no matter how hard the world might say we're better human beings, we still harbor those base nature's that make us terrible. We're no better from those who fueled the bloodthirsty French Revolution; we have nothing on those who watched on w/ pleasure and entertainment as dozens of people were publicly beheaded beneathe the cool, sadistically efficient guillotine; the weak-willed and stupid human race depicted in Doctor Who whose reality TV centered around avoiding execution doesn't seem so far-fetched. Sounds to me like we're not so clean and purty.

Even w/o a Christian background, this disheartens me. Mankind seems so petty and shallow. To take pleasure in death. In watching others fail or fall short of an expected standard. Maybe I'm alone in my opinion. That's alright.

This isn't how we were made to be.

From a Christian perspective, I see a failure to love. Christ didn't qualify His command to love others. Passages throughout the Bible give voice to the argument that we should persevere to do things both when they're easy and when they're hard; it doesn't mean as much to be honest when it's easy, right?

This isn't the rant of some self-righteous, white, Christian male who gets a kick outta' saying how horrible people are. I'm not those crazy, sandwich board guys in the UU telling all of campus how they're goin' to hell. This isn't pronouncing the end of the world. This is just an sad observation. I saw this happen. I saw what people did. And while you could try and attribute it to mob mentality, grief, and justice served, I still think it's sad.

This man killed his wife. I'm sure he's genuinely messed up. I'm sure his family's devastated. Instead of reveling in his condemnation, watching his eventual execution, and gossiping about how low a person he was, why not direct such energies to healing, loving, and ministering to his family? If possible, even to Scott Peterson. (Though, I must confess that even I feel it impossible to find love for him in my heart). If we're honest, can we really feel so self righteous? Can I?

No. I don't think we - I - have come that far. I don't think we deserve that pat on the back our culture says we do.

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