We publicly humiliate because we don't understand
This hit Dateline NBC show uses a decoy to catch/trap online predators. The typical predator looks normal, is 42 years old, and has a couple kids. The decoy, with the help of NBC, lures the predator to come visit his/her house. The predator, after minutes of being in the house, gets greeted by Chris Hansen of NBC, the predator gets embarrassed, then arrested. A criminal gets captured; justice is done. People love this show. Look at the comments on YouTube about this video. Everyone typically has one of three reactions to this:
1) They love that the predator is getting what they deserve, they love watching the guilty party get humiliated
2) They think it's funny.
3) They are just overall disgusted by the perversion of the predator.
The only thing is, for some reason, I'm always on the predator's side. There could be something wrong with me. I don’t know why I feel that way, but I’ll try my best to articulate why (part of the purpose of this post is so that it’ll force me to dig into why I feel this way). I'm all for catching the predator and him being severely punished, but something just doesn't feel right. Maybe it's because it's hard to watch as someone's life is being completely destroyed. Maybe it’s because I’m immediately trying to picture this guy’s situation that would make him do this. He’s probably jaded with his marriage and looking for something to rescue him from his mundane, meaningless life. He’s probably has been enslaved to porn for years and can’t escape. Meaning his ever-increasing tolerance level for arousal has led him from porn to scandalous porn to needing the real thing. He’s a normal guy with a serious problem; a normal guy who wants something exciting in life; a normal guy who never dealt with his sin and it has now taken over him. As a result of these originally ‘innocent thoughts’, he has ruined his life and his relationship with his family forever. Could not this be myself save the grace of God.
posted by Martin | 3:46 PM
5 Comments:
I saw a program last night where a car was planted in a parking lot unlocked, with windows down and the keys in the ignition. The car had a hidden camera and audio recorder and was used as bait for police to catch car thieves. My problem with the situation is that the car was placed in a laundromat parking lot in a poor black neighborhood. They didn't catch any hardened car thieves. The police were offering a ridiculously malicious temptation to people who were far too susceptible. Their need was great and the temptation was great. Of course the thieves were wrong and should be punished. However, it is the law that was wrong. Rather than stopping crime, they were encouraging it, or worse, creating it in order to punish it. The same is going on with this NBC show where most of the "predators" are sought out by the "bait", sometimes for up to a few weeks. Sin is powerfully compelling even for those who believe the Gospel, how much more so for those who have no hope?
man, well said. i think you are right on. that makes me dislike the show even more.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Why does our society punish lust so severely in this context, when it's not punished as severely in other contexts?
I'm not saying we need to change the laws ... but it's typical of our un-biblical world view to view a child predator as worse than a lustful college student.
This set-up does seem terribly malicious. I wanted to cry for that guy when he got caught. He clearly knows he's done something wrong.
Of course, being a Mom of 5 kids, I think people who prey on children need to be taken very seriously. But this seems like another instance where people pick something that isn't their own particular sin, to point fingers at and humilate, because then they feel better about themselves. . .it's a twisted sort of self-righteousness. In a culture where pornography is so accessible (and anonymous), it's pretty easy to see how someone could end up in that situation (I actually know of a similar situation, in real life). I agree that our attitude should be, "But for the grace of God, there go I."
Post a Comment
<< Home