April 23, 2013
Brother’s Keeper
When my children were
teens I cautioned them about underage drinking. Well actually, it was more than
a caution. I threatened that if I ever discovered them or their friends
drinking I wouldn’t wait for them to get caught; I’d turn them in to law
enforcement myself. I am absolutely amazed to learn that when the FBI released
the photos of the Boston Marathon terrorists not one of their immediate or
extended family members called law enforcement to identify them. The callousness
shown by the family feels similar to the story of Cain and Abel. Cain killed
his brother Abel and when confronted by God, Cain lied about knowing the
whereabouts of Abel. The indifference and lack of concern displayed by the Tsarnaev
family smacks of them too saying, “Am I
my brother’s keeper?” (Gen 4:10 NIV)
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2 comments:
Gail;
-----But maybe that is exactly what they were doing - keeping their "brother". From Chechnya, Ma and Pa spoke the innocence and loveliness of their boys. Most likely, they completely believed in what they were saying. Their boys had been away for several years. The mentality for doing this act could easily have brewed in that short time. The people who knew them from school also glowingly praised them. Nor would they necessarily know the ideological networks the boys were tying into at home. But Uncle Ruslan was the interesting act.
-----”What do you think provoked this?” he was asked.
-----”Uhmm…Being losers. Hatred to those who se…who were able to settle themselves. These are the only reasons I can imagine of. Anything else, anything else to do with religion, with Islam, it’s a fraud; it’s a fake. We’re Muslims; we’re Chechnyans. We’re ethnic Chechnyans.” Uncle Ruslan started this press conference to extend sympathy to the victims. The denials that followed, denials of knowing the boys beyond a mere acquaintance, denials of having a decent thought for them, denials of any closeness with the boys or their father, denials that Islamism had anything to do with it stole the show. Yet, had Uncle Ruslan phoned them in? What? And shame Islam? Of course not. He was keeping his brothers.
-----Had most everyone else covered for the boys? It is probably more that everyone was covering for their own group and preserving their own relationships within it, too. Each soul putting their hand upon the phone to tip-off the authorities would do so with at least some apprehension about being the squealer bringing shame upon the association. Then, what the heck, the government will get them soon anyhow. The closer were the associations, the less was the indifference and the more the concern, not for you and me and the rule of law, but for the group.
-----Ayn Rand writes in “Philosophy: Who Needs It?” about fear being major amongst the emotional set (beautiful, then, that perfect love casts out fear, replacing it as the major emotion.) Fear of the future, fear of the unknown, fear of needing to figure it out...the most of people aggregate into groups and associations which prop particular fear soothing perspectives and solutions in the individuals’ minds by the comfort of knowing the mass believes them too. I keep thinking about the older brother. He wouldn’t go shirtless so as not to arouse the young ladies. He wouldn’t smoke or drink. He was very religious. He found himself friendless and unable to relate. No wonder. He wouldn’t believe what the various masses around him believed because he had a mind of his own.
-----I’m wondering where his real keeper was. Where were those who knew the Lord sincerely? Could they not see what they held in common with this young man? A mind of their own. (Unless of course they also handed their minds over to the leaders of their churches, which I do not consider a sincere relationship with the Lord, but with the leaders.) I felt a deep sorrow for this young man who was abandoned to lonely fear by those who profess love. Had some Lord loving soul docked with him on the mere basis of being a self thinking human being, he may not have docked with America haters and rotted into blasting his neighbors into grief.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
Gail;
-----I doubt I will ever stop assuming too much. I love figuring out what’s going on around me. I forget that sometimes a stated condition about a situation was only a splinter of time before which it did not exist. It’s odd I should forget, because I love splinters of evidence. One of them can vanquish even the gigantic theory. And so one vanquished mine. Neighbors say that Tamerlan returned last year as a changed man from a six month trip to Russia. He no longer smoked or drank. So, before his trip to Russia, maybe there was not attitudes of conviction and commitment by which a Christian could establish some relationship for passing some influence. maybe there was not this self-thinking mind I perceived to be in him. It was upon his return, neighbors say, that he said he did not understand Americans and had none of them as friends. It seems he picked up some form of mental virus there amidst some three hundred terrorist bombings. My theory of the lone religious minded soul gone wrong in a lack of attention is now dissipated by testimony about his newly discovered commitment to crazed religiosity.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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