The LA Times reported that enthusiastic Laker fans engaged in rioting in celebration of the Laker’s latest NBA victory. (Yes, you read correctly: They rioted “in celebration” of a “victory.”) They did the same thing last year. They destroyed and vandalized storefronts, looted, smashed and burned vehicles, started fires and beat people up. It is a significant fact that these rioters were the victors, not the losers. They were not wronged or provoked. They were not protesting some horrible violation of their civil rights. No heinous atrocities had been committed against them. Their violent and destructive behavior was the result of their excitement over winning a national basketball championship. On the surface this makes absolutely no sense to many of us. It only becomes clear when we look below the surface to what lies beneath: an uneducated and godless conscience.
Riots repeatedly remind us of the disturbing fact that a certain percentage of the people in our country and the world lack any sense of moral compunction. They so lack any self-control that even the elation of a sports victory can send them spiraling completely out of control. Their violent binge is triggered simply by uncontrolled emotion. The trigger can be an exciting event that makes them very happy (sports victory), or it can be something that makes them very sad (they don’t get what they want). The recent riots in Greece are an example of the later. Such people operate on raw animal instinct. Those with this mentality have no respect for the rights, persons and properties of other people, which makes them extremely dangerous to be around.
The apostle Peter described some people as being “like irrational animals, creatures of instinct born to be caught and destroyed…” (2 Peter 2:12). The apostle Paul described some as being “abusive, heartless, ruthless, unappeasable, brutal, treacherous and reckless” (2 Timothy 3:2-4; Romans 1:31). I fear that these 2000 year old descriptions aptly describe many people of our time. (Paul did say that such people would increase in number – 2 Tim. 3:13). It appears that the further our politicians push us away from a biblical worldview, the more dangerous our society becomes. The Lord’s advice is in order: Let us be as harmless as doves, but let us also be as wise as serpents (Matthew 10:16). We must accept the fact that “not all men have faith” (2 Thess. 3:2), and some never will (2 Tim. 3:7). Some are dangerous and need to be regarded as such.
While it is the duty of the righteous to “lift up their voice like a trumpet” in protesting against evil (Isa. 58:1), the actions of rioters go beyond mere protestation. Many of their ways do not make sense. For example:
- Rioters engage in vandalism. How can one legitimately advance the cause of justice for one group of people by destroying the property of another group? The truth is that rioters receive pleasure from destroying the property of other people, and they use the occasion of the riot to obtain this pleasure.
- Rioters injure and even kill innocent people. How can one legitimately claim to be working “for the protection of innocent people” while injuring and killing innocent people? This is utterly inconsistent. The truth is that rioters use the occasion of the riot as an excuse to beat up and exert their power over other people.
- Rioters engage in looting. How is the rioter’s cause advanced by his stealing from his neighbor? The truth is that the rioter is a thief, and he uses the occasion of the riot as an opportunity to take what does not belong to him.
- Rioters are anarchists. They despise existing law and wish to be a law unto themselves. Under the guise of calling for equal protection under the law, they actually violate the law.
- Rioters are oppressors. They may claim to be defending the rights of the oppressed, however, they are actually interested in creating an environment in which they become the oppressors.
In each of these cases it is clear that the rioter’s purpose is not to protect the weak and underprivileged. His purpose is to acquire power, material substance and control. He uses the event, whether some social injustice, or the mere victory of his favorite basketball team, as a means of advancing his own personal agenda. Such people should be punished. I suspect that much of this behavior would cease if the law strictly required the culprits to personally pay for their damage. In cases of injury, the punishment should match the crime: eye for eye, wound for wound, life for life…
Tim Haile
