On Whom Will the Stone Fall?

Some Pharisees (religious leaders of Jesus' day who focused more on following God's rules than following God Himself) wanted to see what Jesus would do. They brought before him a woman who had been caught in adultery (wonder how she was "caught"?). They reminded Jesus of the Law and how it stated that the woman should be stoned to death for her sin. They then asked what Jesus thought about it. He made very clear his feelings when he responded, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." After this the crowd fizzled away like a pack of dogs crawling away with their tails between their legs.

On Friday afternoon, November 28, 2008, I was watching Headline News when I heard that one of my fellow associates, a Wal-Mart associate had been trampled to death by a stampede of shoppers. To me, this is one of the lowest points of modern history. Some of my other associates at work told me how they had seen video footage of the event and how the man was desperately crying out for help, but to no avail. One by one, the heartless crowd continued to step right over top of the dying man. And now we are all confronted with a question - "Whose fault is this?"

On the same Headline News report I referred to above, I heard the sorriest and most pathetic analyzing from supposed expert forensic and social psychologists. One of which blamed Wal-Mart. Why not? Wal-Mart is an easy target (no pun intended to refer to WalMart competitor Target Stores, Inc.). But is Wal-Mart at fault here?

The expert pscychologist concluded that Wal-Mart should have taken measures to better prepare themselves for tighter crowd control on this fateful morning. Was she right? Personally, I disagree. Even if Wal-Mart was not my employer, I do not feel the blame rests on the shoulders of the store at which this happened. The fact is, this could have happened anywhere. Not to mention, the crowd was lined up in a line, which in most cases is a fairly natural and common form of control. Also, how many other retailers set up crowd berracades as the expert suggested?

The other expert stooped even lower. In his comments on the situation he made a statement to the effect that these were Christians buying Christmas presents, but they were acting very un-Christianlike. This is a classic fallacy of argumentation. In other words, this guy was arguing unfairly and wrongly. His statement that these shoppers were all Christians was first of all an assumption. It was also backed by no grounds - he had no research to prove these individuals that were doing the shopping - or the killing - were in fact Christians. And lastly, he was drawing a false conclusion that all Christmas shoppers are Christians and therefore pointing the blame on Christians who had gone out of control. Of course, we all know that there are plenty of atheists who celebrate Christmas, which blows this guy's expert opinion out of the water.

Here is my personal view on the whole situation. The reason this event strikes a cord with us is that we can all relate to both the crowd and the Wal-Mart associate. There have been times when we have been wronged terribly. We have suffered as a result of the choices of others, and it cost us a great deal. So part of us wants so badly to speak up for the innocent man who suffered because of the sins of others.

At the same time, however, we can also relate extremely well with the shoppers. There have been so many times when we have been so controlled by our desires to obtain that "greener grass" which we do not have, that we will behave completely unbecomingly of ourselves in order to obtain it. This whole even enrages us, and we know exactly how ruthless those shoppers were because if we are all being honest, we have done the same thing. Granted, most of us have not killed anyone. But I honestly believe that we have at one time or another been so controlled by our own selfish desires and wants that we give little to no thought to how it affects others around us.

In my mind's eye I can picture the whole scene unfolding. The man is a the door knowing that it must be opened. He struggles for the key to find the hole in the latch. Once the door bursts open, he scrambles to jump out of the way, but his struggle is in vain. The shoppers, whose eyes are glazed over with the materialistic thrill of getting their hands on that gift for half price, whose brows are furrowed in frustration that some meager Wal-Mart employee would dare get in their way, and whose elbows are flying in attempts to maintain their position in the race, burst through the entrance at an explosive rate. As they rush in they make their way through the cramped doors and race to grab the shopping carts as tempers flare shouting, "Mine!"

For the shoppers this may have only seemed like a split second as they burst through the door, grab their cart, then head for the aisles. But for the injured employee on the ground fighting for an escape, desperately crying for help, I could only imagine the entire ordeal seemed like it lasted hours as he was hammered by work boots, tennis shoes, high heels, and other foot apperal worn by people both small and very large.

As the crowd slows, perhaps a nearby associate who watched the whole thing happen runs to the aid of the fallen man and begins to find help. Perhaps there were shoppers who stopped or simply stared in disbelief that something like this would happen.

And as if what had alread happened was not tragic enough, you will never believe what happened next. Of course at this point, the store decided to close down, but informed all shoppers to report to the registers with their purchases, then vacate the premises. And to my utter amazement, shock, and absolute disgust, shoppers protested. Not all of them, but only some. One of which even pulled aside another Wal-Mart associate, and with frustration and anger in their voice said, "But I waited in line since yesterday!"

No remorse. No thought to the consequences of their actions. But yet, we have found ourselves here, too, have we not.

The bottom line is this, we cannot point blame on any one person in this situation. Nor can we even blame Wal-Mart. You may as well blame the victim, and I know no one who will do such a thing. Could we review the security film and press charges against every shopper who stepped on the associate? Are the camera's high-tech enough to show whose foot hit him and whose didn't?

This event is a perfect illustration of the fact that all human hearts are depraved. All of us need to be given new hearts if we expect to change. Perhaps this will serve to awaken our world to the reality that Christmas is not at all what it was intended to be. Who knew that the exchanging of gifts would come to this? "Saint Nicholas" (the originator of the practice of giving gifts) himself would probably shrivel in disgust and weep in sadness at the thought of this horrific scenario. Nonetheless, here we are.

I have heard two statements this Christmas holiday that have really struck me in the chest. One was spoken by a co-worker of mine. They were talking about the struggling economy and began to get very heated. When they began discussing how they were personally affected they ended in anger saying very strongly, "This will be one pathetic Christmas!" Oh my heart sunk. I think I actually heard it as it plopped on the floor.

The other statement was one that was a bit of a pleasant surprise. Someone shared how an "expert" was commenting on the same subject as my co-worker. The expert was asked if he felt as though this Christmas season will be a bleak one for families because of the struggling economy. His answer was a breath of fresh air. He responded that he felt that this will probably be one of the best Christmases families have had for years. Because money will be tighter and paychecks will be smaller (or non-existent all together), people will be more creative with their gift-giving. They will invest time and care rather than dollars and cents into their gifts. They will also focus on simple gatherings rather than elaborate gifts this year, which would have a stronger emphasis on family ties than Christmas expenses.

Whatever this season brings, perhaps we should stop and examine our own hearts. God will freely give us new hearts if we ask. He will take these hearts and give us his own. All you have to do is ask. If you want to know more about how to do this, email me and I would love to help you. jonathan.erdman@sebts.edu

Why don't we let the one who is without sin among us throw the stone at WalMart or any other party involved. Let's pray for the family of the associate who lost his life. And let's be thankful for the time we get to share with our families this holiday season.