WWJD?

*Warning: This blog is not my usual, uplifting “Wholeheart Life” missive.  Instead, it conveys my heartfelt concerns about the Boston bombings and aftermath.

The events of the past week have been both horrific and heartwarming. I continue to send healing thoughts to those who are grieving --- the loss of loved ones, the loss of limbs, the loss of feelings of safety --- and I am so thankful for the selfless ones who risked their own lives to save the lives of the Boston Marathon bombing victims.

For many, the immediate reaction toward those who perpetrated this carnage was explosive anger and a desire for vengeance. An automatic and normal response.  And yet I cringe every time I see a bloodthirsty mob demanding retribution, giving in to human beings’ baser instincts.

There is a Facebook post that has gone viral and which essentially says that the poster doesn’t want to know anything about the surviving bomber, his background, reasons, etc.  Why not?  So that he doesn’t have to reconsider his black/white, good/evil view of the world?  There is so much more to this story than just two malevolent terrorists killing and maiming innocent victims.

In fact, as a mother, I find myself just wanting to shield 19 year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev from the angry mob. When I look at his photo, I do not see an enraged, depraved monster; I see a mop-topped, average teenager.  Think about what you (or your child, if he/she has achieved adulthood) were like as a 19 year-old. My guess is that, as you took those first tentative steps into adulthood, you made some incredibly stupid choices.  I know that at that point in my life, I wanted my life to have meaning, and yet I had little idea what that meant. I was angry with the older generation, and rebellion was my constant companion (if not in deed, then in thought).  And, as a naïve young woman, I’m sure that I could have been persuaded by someone I greatly admired to take an action that I would otherwise not have considered (although not one which I knew would have physically harmed others).

By all accounts, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who had lived in the U.S. since he was 9 or 10, was a friendly, typical “American” teenager. Except that he wasn’t. He had one foot in America and one foot in Chechnya, parents who lived across the ocean, and an adored, much older brother who had become radicalized. Most likely, he was also appalled at the hypocrisy of the U.S. government, which persists in inadvertently killing innocents, particularly Muslims, overseas. 

Fifteen years ago, devout Christians were wearing WWJD bracelets and citing this acronym often. Curiously, that all stopped with the advent of 9-11.  It’s very easy for us to ask, “What would Jesus do?”  when we are not faced with terrible realities.  It is much more difficult to try to walk in the path of the prophets when we are confronted with unspeakable acts.

  

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev must face the consequences of his heinous actions, whether he made them willingly or under duress. But let us not just dismiss him as an evil terrorist. Instead, let us recognize his youth and feel compassion, even as we condemn his acts.  And let us learn from his story, if he will tell it; for only by listening to and considering others’ grievances, and by showing compassion and forgiveness to those who seem least to deserve it, will we ever achieve true peace. 

We KNOW what Jesus would do.