Collateral Damage
Would you want others to suffer because of you?
The assumption we make is that people are generally good hearted and would not let others take the blame for something they did. But that assumption may be wrong.
How often did it work during our childhood when the teacher would try to draw out the culprit, threatening to punish the whole class if the one responsible didn't fess up?
When Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or do obeisance to him, Haman was infuriated. But he thought it beneath him to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So, having been told who Mordecai's people were, Haman plotted to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus. - Esther 3:5-6
In today's reading from the Book of Esther, Haman gives us a glimpse of ourselves, though we may not want to admit it.
Whenever we generalize, attributing to all the traits of one, we act like Haman, seeking retribution on a people for the actions of one from that group.
We could say we would never do such a thing and we probably would not be so cruel as to commit a people to death over being treated with disrespect, as Haman feels he has been, but on some level we may react in a similar way.
It is easy to draw conclusions, to judge an entire group based on the traits and actions of one of its members. We do it all the time.
It is an ability that helps us to recognize things based on their similarities. All trees do not look alike, yet we know they are trees because we see the similarities in them and lump them together as trees.
But when it comes to people, we can make assumptions about minor traits that just are not true.
Back in the days of Haman, the Jews were easy to spot. They dressed and acted differently, setting themselves apart from the rest, so it wasn't hard to single out a whole group and attribute to all the actions of one of their kind.
But don't we do the same today?
Don't we find the actions of some so intolerable that we treat all of that group as if they were equally guilty?
The recent fighting in Gaza, the actions of ISIS, persecutions of one people by another all over the world are examples of this typing of traits, painting whole groups with the same broad brush.
We are not all clones of each other, cutouts of a small set of patterns, each with its own faults and flaws. We are unique and perfectly made in God's image.
So, how do we deal with groups who act as one, terrorizing and killing others, judging them and lumping them into the same mold?
Chances are, we will do the same. We will lump them all together and retaliate, dehumanizing our enemies and claiming that the many who suffer for the few are simply collateral damage.
More to come...