Once upon a time the big homie, Jesus, once said “He that be without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her." Now the big homie Jesus has said a lot of wise words, but the words above really resonate with me. In today’s society, people are really critical of others, and that just doesn’t sit well with me.
In the long history of the planet Earth there has never been a perfect individual to walk this earth, except for Jesus (if you are a follower of Christ). All the major Bible heroes such as David, Moses, Abraham, John, etc. were flawed men. None of the men I listed above lived perfect lives, yet their shortcomings did not mar the great deeds they accomplished during their lifetime.
In American culture as it stands today, most people, especially those, coming from a minority group are put on a one strike policy. By “one strike policy” I am referring to the fact that after a mistake is made, the person who committed the transgression is subsequently judged, out casted, and labeled. Some famous examples of this are Michael Vick, Ray Rice, and Adrian Peterson. Now by no means am I condoning the actions of these men because what they did was wrong. However with that being said, the treatment and persecution they received from the public was wrong. Those men were treated like criminals who lived in a utopian society. People wanted those men to have everything stripped away from them. What’s worse is that even after those men served the punishment that came with their crime, people still treated them like peons and even wanted more punishment to be placed on them. What makes this so appalling is that a large majority of the people protesting where probably guilty of doing something that they would not want to become publicly known.
Nobody is perfect and I’m pretty sure that the vast majority of the population have done things they are not proud of. Yet how come these people are the first ones to pick up rocks and throw them at the guilty? It’s appalling to me how nasty people can be to others in order to make themselves feel more secure. Yes, you heard me correctly. When someone is quick to crucify those who make mistakes they are attempting to deflect their own shame. By labeling and crucifying those who’ve made mistakes, a person is attempting to feel more secure by covering up the shame they feel by the actions they have done.
There’s a saying, “It’s easy to kick a man when he’s down,” and that saying has some validity. When a person makes a mistake the easiest thing to do is to attack and condemn that person. How about next time we challenge this notion and instead show kindness and compassion to those who’ve faltered? It’s easy to do the wrong thing, but it’s harder to do the right thing. Now let’s go become the change we want to see.
