Desensitizing-Is it happening to you?
Clinton, UT-A quiet small town, population of almost 21,000, unheard of by most of the world until recently. Unfortunately, it made news on a certain night in November, a holiday of Thanksgiving and gratitude for the blessings God has granted us. At approximately 8pm Walmart employees cut away the wrapping on tablets. These tablets had a retail price of $50, but ended up being more costly than that. As you'll see in the video below, the crowd surges forward, and in an instant, someone falls beneath the rushing feet. You hear police yelling for everyone to step back so they can get to the woman now being trampled by a crowd similar to wild animals in the forest.
I cannot finish watching this video, as it pains me to watch human beings act so ferocious towards each other for plastic and metal. One thing I did notice however, and I want you to notice too, is that there are two kinds of heartless animal mentalities in this crowd. As you hear the call rippling through the air for people to back up, you notice a hand go up in the crowd. This hand holds up a cell phone, on which they are filming the occurrence. The crowd hasn't reversed at all, and instead of trying to help police reach the injured woman now pinned to the cold tile floor, people start to shoot video of the tragedy.
Black Friday-Clinton, UT
Ashamed as I am of the people in that crowd, I couldn't be more angry than I am at the people who stood, and not only did nothing to assist, but recorded the cruel behavior. As I try to wrap my mind around the fact that we have become so desensitized that we literally will step on and hurt others to get to an object on a day set aside for gratitude, I wonder something else: Why would a human being's first instinct at the pain of another be to reach into their pocket to record instead of reaching down to halt the agony? In this world of technology, WIFI, Instagram, and Youtube, have we forgotten what it is like to listen to our soul, our divine instinct to love others? To be aware of others suffering and attempt to relieve?
Lest you are sitting comfortably there thinking 'I would never do that', 'I could never sink to that level', I dare you to think again. Have you ever:
Pulled out your phone at a party and zoned out?
Texted during church?
Interrupted yourself or someone else to answer a phone call?
Sat in a room full of people and when they pulled out their phones, you did too?
Felt your phone vibrate and checked it at a family meal?
Bumped into someone because your mind was on the music erupting from your headphones?
If this is the case, you should re-evaluate the worth of a human being versus the electronic that, despite popular belief, CAN wait. Unless you are an EMT, a policeman, or other such emergency care giver, I highly doubt that text you are so desperate to look at can't wait, the phone call you are receiving couldn't be put off five minutes to finish the conversation you are in, that the Facebook notification couldn't be looked at later instead of during Sunday School.
Insensitivity to situation, to others, or to your location is so rampant in our society now that we all need to be awake to it. Beyond just using our cell phones in inappropriate amounts and places, we need to wake ourselves up! Remind yourself of what is important, and keep yourself tuned in to the needs and feelings of the people around you.
Romans 13:11 "Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed."
Black Friday-Clinton, UT
Ashamed as I am of the people in that crowd, I couldn't be more angry than I am at the people who stood, and not only did nothing to assist, but recorded the cruel behavior. As I try to wrap my mind around the fact that we have become so desensitized that we literally will step on and hurt others to get to an object on a day set aside for gratitude, I wonder something else: Why would a human being's first instinct at the pain of another be to reach into their pocket to record instead of reaching down to halt the agony? In this world of technology, WIFI, Instagram, and Youtube, have we forgotten what it is like to listen to our soul, our divine instinct to love others? To be aware of others suffering and attempt to relieve?
Lest you are sitting comfortably there thinking 'I would never do that', 'I could never sink to that level', I dare you to think again. Have you ever:
Pulled out your phone at a party and zoned out?
Texted during church?
Interrupted yourself or someone else to answer a phone call?
Sat in a room full of people and when they pulled out their phones, you did too?
Felt your phone vibrate and checked it at a family meal?
Bumped into someone because your mind was on the music erupting from your headphones?
If this is the case, you should re-evaluate the worth of a human being versus the electronic that, despite popular belief, CAN wait. Unless you are an EMT, a policeman, or other such emergency care giver, I highly doubt that text you are so desperate to look at can't wait, the phone call you are receiving couldn't be put off five minutes to finish the conversation you are in, that the Facebook notification couldn't be looked at later instead of during Sunday School.
Insensitivity to situation, to others, or to your location is so rampant in our society now that we all need to be awake to it. Beyond just using our cell phones in inappropriate amounts and places, we need to wake ourselves up! Remind yourself of what is important, and keep yourself tuned in to the needs and feelings of the people around you.
Romans 13:11 "Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed."
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