More human behavior in the news
Ted Folkert
December 24, 2014
It is Christmas Eve as we prepare to celebrate tomorrow the birth of Jesus – the icon of the Christian religious faith. I am sure Jesus had plenty to say about human behavior.
Obviously, everyone did not pay heed. Many examples of pathetic and unbelievable human behavior are yet presented to us on a daily basis, although the attention to them is scant and the lessons learned from them seem nonexistent.
- Two police officers in New York were assassinated while sitting in a police car. A perhaps mentally deranged, or perhaps hired gun, criminal who felt compelled to make a revengeful statement, shot them in cold blood. They had no chance to defend themselves. He later took his own life. Police Chief William Bratton speaks about this tragic event: “It’s not easy being a cop in America today. The dangers are still existent despite crime having gone down dramatically over the last 20 years. It’s a tough job, as we’ve seen in some instances, a thankless job. They have done a remarkable job, they’re keeping crime down … they’ve been restrained when face-to-face with demonstrators chanting “kill the cops”.
After this senseless murder, hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Manhattan chanting: “Black lives matter, hey-hey, ho-ho, these racist cops have got to go.”
- In Oregon, a shooter wounded two boys and girl at a high school, which may be gang related according to Portland police.
- In Atlanta, two homeless men were shot and killed as they slept on the streets of Atlanta. Both were shot repeatedly. A man was arrested and charged with the murders.
- In Bagdad, young girls of the Iraqi Yazidi religious group are committing suicide, their only means of escape from the Islamic State captors who torture and rape them. They apparently were given clothes that looked like dance costumes and were told to bathe and wear the clothing. A 19 rear old girl named Jilan cut her wrists and hanged herself. There are hundreds of them still captive with no prospect for the ordeal to end soon. The Yazidis are an ancient religious minority, persecuted for generations in Muslim communities as Satanists because of their beliefs, which include elements of Christianity and Judaism. Thousands of Yazidi women, men and children have been abducted and been forced to convert to Islam, sold, or given as gifts to militants. The claim by the captors is that virgin captives can be raped immediately and that there is no prohibition on sleeping with prepubescent girls.
- Tamir Rice, a 12 year old black Cleveland boy was shot through the stomach and died at the hands of a white police officer who claims that the toy air gun he was holding was mistaken as a real gun. Apparently, a dispatcher received a 911 call about a person with a gun and sent a police car to the scene. Cleveland Police Officer Timothy Loehmann jumped out of his car and saw Tamir, who was displaying the toy gun. The death has been ruled a homicide. The two officers have been placed on limited duty. Prior to the incident the U. S. Justice Department found that Cleveland police officers use excessive force far too often.
These are all current events in the news. I am sure there will many more to report in the next few days.
But another example of sad and inexplicable human behavior is worthy of mention here.
- It occurred in 1944 in South Carolina in the Jim Crow South. Eight year old, Aima Ruffner, and her 14 year old brother, George Stinney, Jr. were asked by two white girls where to find some fruit called “may pops”. They said they didn’t know and went on home. Aima later testified this story in a court hearing. The next day George was arrested and charged with the murder of these two girls. He was tried, convicted, sentenced to death, and executed by electrocution within three months’ time. A 14 year old black youth – arrested, charged, tried, convicted, and executed, all by white people.
Now, seventy years later, George’s conviction was vacated by a South Carolina judge, who cited “fundamental, constitutional violations of due process” – “a truly unfortunate episode in our history.”
The family then fled their home fearing a white mob was coming after them. George was buried in an unmarked grave.
Human behavior – it never ceases to amaze me.
Think about it!