Rioters in London

When we were there July 17th to July 22nd all was calm and quiet, relatively speaking. I cannot imagine the horror and disbelief Londoners are sensing now as disgruntled and disillusioned youths rampage in the streets night after night.


Certainly, they're thugs. Obviously, their actions are indefensible and shocking. There is no way anyone can condone or justify the senseless smashing of shop windows, the indiscriminate looting, or the violence and bloodspill happening on street level. Some of the rioters defensively cough up less than plausible explanations by saying that this is the only way authorities are going to notice them, and (hopefully?) consequently be pressured into doing something about their predicament.


Are you going to get much sympathy through stealing a cell phone or by arsoning the restaurant owned by an immigrant? Will your local MP lend a friendly ear to your complaints after you've been caught throwing Molotov cocktails at police officers desperately trying to stave off the wave of destruction? Or will the general public feel much sympathy for you once you've burned down their neighbourhood? Not very likely.


IT'S NOT BECAUSE THEY'RE THE HAVE-NOTS


Poverty alone cannot explain why people start behaving with such venomous hatred. Certainly, these youngsters are frustrated and disillusioned, and that's not hard to understand. Being a drop-out from secondary school, or having been recently laid off from your low-paid job due to the credit crunch, it's no wonder anger builds up inside you. You're a failure in your own eyes. There's perhaps no sense of purpose left  to your life. Of course it's then very tempting for you to join your mates on a reckless looting spree, with little or no risk of being apprehended by police vastly outnumbered by this army of youth.


Still, there's no way society can overlook this kind of pointless destruction or pilfering. Yes, many of the thugs are probably poor, but they're also human beings responsible and accountable for their behaviour. Venting your anger on inncocent shopowners won't help your situation. It's just absurd and highly counter-productive if you're looking for ways to improve it, and it's plain wrong to boot. Prospective employers won't throw a second glance at your application, if you've just earned yourself a criminal record. And politicians won't show much interest for policies that may benefit you if you've previously have shown such contempt for society around you, lashing out in blind rage. The language of violence doesn't precede fruitful dialogue, which clearly is what these youngsters need.


HOPE FOR A BETTER FUTURE


But they need more than people willing to listen. They need hope. They need to be instilled with an inner vision that if they act right - if they can change their behaviour for the better - then they just may witness the kind of improvement they're desperate for. And it seems to me that the most pervasive and enduring kind of hope, is that which has its source in the belief that there is a just and loving God somewhere, wanting to engage with you. Because God can lift you from your loss of self-esteem and remove the toxic self-hatred, and begin a process of recovery where you begin to discover your talents and skills. If you want that to happen, that is.


"Where there's no vision, people throw off restraint". Sad, but true.