16th August 2024

One of the more shocking aspects of the recent violent demonstrations in some of our towns and cities, for me at least, was to hear that people had apparently turned out simply to watch the action. These weren’t there to protest or counter-protest, but purely to spectate – and some had even brought their children.

The last place I’d want to take children is to be near a mob throwing bricks at police and setting fire to buildings. Quite apart from the potential physical danger, there’s the whole issue of how this might affect young minds. For the very sensitive child, the experience might result in disturbed sleep patterns and nightmares. Others could gain the impression that street violence is a perfectly normal and valid way to express dissatisfaction; and some no doubt would find it just plain exciting!

It’s sometimes said that we’ve all to some degree grown de-sensitised to violence through our constant exposure to it on newscasts and through films and tv dramas. I will confess that there aren’t many evenings when Merry and I don’t find ourselves watching something involving gang warfare, murder or serial killing! Video games requiring us to destroy our enemies aren’t quite our scene, but they’re played for hours daily by a lot of people, young and old.

Perhaps my being shocked at spectators turning up to violent demonstrations just shows how out of touch I am these days, and yet I wonder if we shouldn’t be heeding Paul the Apostle’s words about filling our minds with what is true, honourable, just, pure, pleasing and commendable (Phil 4:8) as a way of re-calibrating our moral compasses.

Ken Stewart