Man With New Titanium Jaw Isn't Mad at Thugs Who Gave It to Him
The Washington Post has a story about Trell Thomas, a 26-year-old man who was attacked on the evening of Labor Day in the center of Washington, D.C. He was minding his own business, waiting for a bus, when 10 youth surrounded him and pounded him with their fists, breaking his jaw. He fled, stumbling up a busy street. They also tried to rob him as motorists passed him, unwilling to help.
His jaw now contains three permanent titanium plates. But Thomas, who runs an internship program to get youth involved in "immigrant rights, health care, and racial and social justice," isn't mad at the 16- to 18-year-olds who attacked him.
Thomas didn’t want his employer to be identified in the newspaper, for fear that the guilty parties might find it easier to track him down. But he did want to speak out — not to condemn his attackers but to call attention to whatever drove them to behave that way. “I don’t want to be angry with them,”Thomas said. “It just concerns me that their future is being taken away from them, by them, so early.”
He continued: “I’ve already got the bruises and stuff. I want to put a message out that we hear you. . . . We don’t want you to be out here robbing people and hurting people to displace your anger, or to feel that this is what you need to do to get food on the table, or to get the help and attention that you deserve, or to have a bond by attacking people together.”
Now, as a Christian, I aim to forgive those who attack or persecute me. But there is a difference between forgiving those who do wrong and excusing that wrongdoing. And excusing sinful or criminal behavior serves no one.
I, too, am sad that Washington, D.C., the city I love and lived in for 15 years is full of violent attacks. I recognize that the reasons for this violence and decay aren't simply about immoral behavior of individuals. But they are at the very least about immorality.
I can't help but read excuse-mongering such as above as anything else other than an attack on people with financial and familial problems. I have known more than my fair share of people who are poor or without benefit of a stable family and yet they behaved admirably under pressure.
It's great that Thomas isn't consumed with rage against his attackers. But if he truly cares about social justice, he should remember that justice requires acknowledgement of guilt.
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Comments:
Jun '10
Re: Man With New Titanium Jaw Isn't Mad at Thugs Who Gave It to Him
Travis Bickle?
Sep '10
Re: Man With New Titanium Jaw Isn't Mad at Thugs Who Gave It to Him
In my opinion, he doesn't care about social justice nearly so much as he cares for his feelings about it—feelings that will likely get him attacked again.
Aug '11
Re: Man With New Titanium Jaw Isn't Mad at Thugs Who Gave It to Him
He probably thought Obama could sit down for a chit chat with Ahmadinejad and the US would become allies with Iran. Or that we merely needed a reset button to have a good relationship with Russia. But notice that he did not stand there and turn the other cheek to the thugs. He tried to get away.
Jan '11
Re: Man With New Titanium Jaw Isn't Mad at Thugs Who Gave It to Him
The first thing that came to mind was: Eloi
Sums it up pretty well, I think.
May '11
Re: Man With New Titanium Jaw Isn't Mad at Thugs Who Gave It to Him
Agreed. There is a HUGE difference between forgiving and excusing. To forgive is to acknowledge the hurt and to let it go. To understand that the person needing forgiveness is human and flawed.
To forgive does not excuse the the person needing forgiveness from the consequences of the flawed action.
The continual excusing of unacceptable activity only perpetuates it.
Re: Man With New Titanium Jaw Isn't Mad at Thugs Who Gave It to Him
It's funny you say that but I noticed the guy's Twitter page has a picture of him with Obama. And I think he worked for the campaign or administration at one point, too. He probably did think that was how things would go ...
Mar '11
Re: Man With New Titanium Jaw Isn't Mad at Thugs Who Gave It to Him
This incident demonstrates how difficult it is to penetrate the liberal mindset. The guy gets his jaw broken, and he still blames society, not the degenerates who broke it.
Aug '11
Re: Man With New Titanium Jaw Isn't Mad at Thugs Who Gave It to Him
Pilli:
To forgive does not excuse the the person needing forgiveness from the consequences of the flawed action.
The continual excusing of unacceptable activity only perpetuates it. · Sep 26 at 8:46am
I'm with you 100%. Trell Thomas's thinking is in some ways, almost as dangerous as the people's who attacked them. The route cause is an unwillingness to attach consequences to actions. If he's so concerned about these youths, why not mention his place of employment? The youths can come over and have a respectable conversation. I'm sure their jumping him like that was an accident.
Basically, to hand out flowers to people for aberrant behavior under the assumption that such behavior is someone else's fault (the passive tense "their future is being taken away" is to incentive the behavior, to create a positive sum trade-off between violence or waiting in the employment line.
Jul '10
Re: Man With New Titanium Jaw Isn't Mad at Thugs Who Gave It to Him
What I always remind People is that not only do these People vote, but They are also jurors in Our criminal courts.
Aug '10
Re: Man With New Titanium Jaw Isn't Mad at Thugs Who Gave It to Him
A neo-conservative is a liberal who has been mugged by reality. I don't know what you call a guy who stays liberal after the mugging...
Oct '10
Re: Man With New Titanium Jaw Isn't Mad at Thugs Who Gave It to Him
As copper thefts are big these days, perhaps this guy knows the scrap value of his jaw... Good reason not to advertise...
Edited on September 27, 2011 at 1:47amJul '10
Re: Man With New Titanium Jaw Isn't Mad at Thugs Who Gave It to Him
There was a foreign correspondent from one of the British left-wing newspapers whose views were akin to this poor fool. His name was Robert Fisk and he was an apologist for Islamist barbarians and all the other odds and sods who commit atrocities in the name of some greater good. He was so consistent that when he was set upon by a mob and beaten in one of the arm pits of the world he argued that the attack was justified because of the evils of the Western world. He thus became a verb. The Observer defined fisking as "the practice of savaging an argument and scattering the tattered remnants to the four corners of the internet." Fisk said he never heard of the term. "I don't use the internet. I've never seen a blog in my life. I don't even use email, I don't waste my time with this." He's also a Truther. There must be something in the DNA of lefties that leads to this kind of warped thinking.