A majority of crime used to be arguably a class thing, Save Jerseyans. The poor stole to feed themselves (Robin Hood arose from this world) or because, however misguided, those from a sector of society that went without felt working outside of the system was the best way to succeed notwithstanding their marginalization. Organized crime was a cancerous outgrowth of most crime’s original catalyst: outsider-ness. Yes, violent crime has existed since Cain betrayed his brother and was possibly worse during the Medieval period depending upon which scholar you believe, but the motivations of violent criminals were generally less difficult to suss out.
Something changed in the ’60s and ’70s as our culture – particularly in urban areas – began to degrade. Crime became more… senseless? Then terror came to the suburbs in the ’90s as America’s children, divorced from God, traditional family structures, and other societal anchors that keep humans from straying too far from the path of normative behavior, began shooting up schools and killing themselves with prescription drugs.
Half of a century later? Enter Luigi Mangione and Sebastian Zapeta.
Luigi Mangione stands accused of gunning down a healthcare CEO in New York City, and his motive remains somewhat foggy. It wasn’t a robbery. It doesn’t appear to have been personal. The early indicators suggest that this relatively-handsome and privileged young man had some species of ideological objection to the insurance industry, and his victim paid the price for Luigi’s fatal combination of murderous conviction and likely mental health issues. Nevertheless, it’s been reported that a dozen women (!) were in the courtroom in support of Luigi this week, and his supporters on numerous in social media including ex-Washington Post commentator Taylor Lorenz.
Sebastian Zapeta is a Guatemalan national who allegedly set another New York City subway passenger ON FIRE over the weekend. The video is circulating online and is admittedly one of the most horrific things I’ve ever seen. What’s worse? I’ll tell you: watching someone burn to death as passerbys film it and casually scurry by without trying to help is both stomach-churning and soul-crushing.
Is something different about today’s criminals? Relative to 75 years ago? It seems that way.
The biggest difference, however, may be with the rest of us. It’s hard to imagine our grandparents or great grandparents fawning over a man who murdered a father in cold blood over objections to how insurance claims are adjusted. It’s even more difficult to imagine the Greatest Generation ignoring A WOMAN ON FIRE in a subway care. The men would’ve removed their coats and intervened. There’s no doubt about it.
We need Christ this Christmas and no, while I’m an unapologetic Christian, I’m not in the business of thumping my audience over the head with a Bibile (or anything else). Something is badly, disturbingly broken in our culture when millions of Americans are no longer disturbed by acts of extreme violence or, arguably worse still, seem supportive of it when the victim’s “crime” is fundamentally political. Even if you don’t share my faith, Jesus Christ’s life story should be more relevant than ever to all us because he was born into a strikingly similar environment. Things appeared irreparably broken in the Judea of the First Century AD by most objective measures, and many in Jesus’s own community believed violence was the only answer and a morally justifiable answer at that. He famously disagreed, and His refusal to walk that road motivated a mob of His own people to turn Him over to the Romans.
We need to be better if we want our politics to be better. It’s really that simple, this Christmas and every Christmas. Shifting blame to the criminals for our culture’s imminent collapse is an abrogation of responsibility which we can no longer afford.
