Recently we have seen a lot of mob action. Things that start out as a peaceful protest often devolve into something entirely different. In the Bible, the Pharisees and religious leaders were constantly trying to catch Jesus out and find a reason to get rid of him. It never worked, often making them look foolish and angering them further. An angry mob, whipped up by the religious leaders, arrested Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. It culminated in the angry mob that shouted, “Crucify him!”
Later in the Bible, the apostle Paul (and whoever was fortunate enough to be his traveling companion) was regularly beaten, stoned, or run out of town by an angry mob. Often, people who the previous day were supporters, were the next day whipped into a frenzy by Paul’s enemies who followed him from town to town.
In the book 1984 by George Orwell, there is a time set aside every day called the Two Minutes Hate. Everyone who is a member of the Party is required to stop work and direct their attention to a screen where they are bombarded by images of atrocious things their enemies are supposedly doing. The people are whipped into a frenzy of hatred, with really no purpose other than making sure the Party retains their power. No one questions whether or not these things are really happening. There is no way to find out because the Party controls all media, so they go along with what is fed to them.
When people come together to form a mob, all reasoning soon goes out the window. People who organized the mob find themselves unable to control how things are going and end up with unintended consequences. Innocent people are harmed and any real message that was intended to be expressed is drowned out by the evil that bubbles up and clouds everything.
We have seen this mob mentality at work with the issue of statues. First the mob tore down statues of confederates, then moved on to those who owned slaves before the Civil War and before we could blink, started defacing and tearing down statues of abolitionists and those who freed the slaves. The angry mob quickly devolved into something that cannot be controlled and serves no purpose. If statues must be taken down, it needs to be through proper procedure and voting. Not an angry mob. Mobs are uncontrollable, and no one is safe. Even by those who started it.
I try and make a concerted effort to educate myself on all sides of an issue and make my own decision. The mob mentality is just adult peer pressure at its worst. And this remains true for mobs on either side of the political aisle.
I want to be a follower of Jesus, not men.
Roots and Wings 