In my last blog post I noted we had recently witnessed horrific and astounding events in Boston and the surrounding towns this past week. There have been many remarkable aspects to these events. Many were to be celebrated, some to be lamented.
Among those most lamentable was the media tripping all over itself to be first with the latest development or breaking news. Far too often the information was wrong needing retraction or correction. Instead of focusing on getting the story and information right we focus way, way too much on how soon. Part of this has to do the speed at which social media spreads, pictures, video and reports without any standards of fact checking.
The problem with speed in circumstances like the bombings in Boston is that when it is not accurate it can create new problems exponentially. In the case of the events in Boston that meant risks to some people because they were wrongly identified as suspects. It meant rushing police reports to the screen to correct false information sometimes before the police desired to do so . There is no way to know how things might have turned out at a more controlled pace. There is no way in which to recreate that alternate reality.
As human beings we along with our neighbors live in the one reality we have. As Christians and Jews, we, also, have additional guiding principles that we should take consideration of whenever we participate in the modern world of social media and the present reality. When we consider the Commandment, “Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor,” we must consider what we post concerning others and our responsibility for them and their reputation. As Lutherans we, also, hear Luther as he writes, “We should fear and love God that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, or defame our neighbor, but defend him, [think and] speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything.”
It is tempting in the midst of chaos to panic and to become suspicious of everything as “other.” Terms like “dark skinned” were used to describe the suspects. Such descriptions added nothing to the search and was so ill-defined it added nothing but more fear as people tried to decide who was dark skinned and who wasn’t both around them and in the dark, grainy images on the media screens. Among most of my Swedish relatives I am likely the darkest skinned among them. Was I dark enough? Fear often makes us reckless and careless. Keeping focus on our principles like the Ten Commandments helps us avoid careless acts and putting our neighbors at risk.
In contrast to the panic was the response of those on the ground in the midst of the real chaos where the bombs had exploded. There we saw trained first responders, police, EMS, event security, all rushing towards the epic center of the explosions and the danger. More than that, however, there were the spectators and runners, also, heading directly towards the victims and their friends and families and strangers in need. They lay their bodies over others as shields, they held hands and offered assurance and company, and they tore down crowd control fences so that others could give aid. Some runners even continued to run beyond the finish line after 26 exhausting miles to get to hospitals to offer blood if that was possible.
Paul writes in Romans that someone might dare to die for a good man but that Christ died for us while we were yet still enemies of God. Those running towards the danger had much more in common with Christ and the life I seek to live than paying back hate for hate, pain for pain, and anger for anger. We can speculate and add to the rumors or we can run towards the danger like the Good Samaritan offering aid and comfort. We can only hope and pray that the Spirit of Christ can help us to accept the constant risks of serving others keeping us on that path whatever the danger.