The Dangers of the Mob Mentality
In our modern society, the specter of the mob continues to loom large, much as it did over two thousand years ago when the crowd clamored for the execution of Jesus. Today, as then, the mob often emerges when the message becomes too challenging or difficult to accept. Faced with uncomfortable truths, the masses revolt, succumbing to the allure of the path of least resistance.
At the heart of this phenomenon lies the reality of sin. Sin, in its various forms, is readily identifiable, yet its very nature often scares and unsettles people. The mob, driven by a desire for simplicity and self-gratification, gravitates towards ideas and actions that please the individual, rather than those that demand adherence to Gods law.
The process is insidious – one person sins, then two, until a veritable mob coalesces around the shared transgressions. Suddenly, the unacceptable becomes acceptable, solely because a critical mass of people has deemed it so. The mob, in its misguided validation, creates a false sense of sanity, drowning out the voices of reason and mental health.
The members of this mob are often drawn from the ranks of the mentally ill, the narcissists, the addicts, and the power-hungry. They feed off each other's delusions, reinforcing the idea that their collective vices are, in fact, virtues. As the rest of us sit idly by, waiting for the mob to turn its gaze upon us, we must heed the words of Erich Fromm: "The fact that millions of people share the same vices does not make these vices virtues, the fact that they share so many errors does not make the errors to be truths, and the fact that millions of people share the same forms of mental pathology does not make these people sane."
The path to true sanity and progress lies not in the fickle validation of the mob, but in the unwavering commitment to reason, empathy, and the pursuit of moral and ethical conduct. Only by resisting the siren call of the crowd and standing firm in our principles can we hope to navigate the treacherous waters of our modern world and avoid being consumed by the mob.
Jesus has taught us to pray for the conversion of the mob and not to judge or alienate individuals in the mob. Instead evangelize and lead them home one at a time. Remember one of the last things Jesus did was to forgive the Mob, for they know not what they do.
Momento Mori, Carpe Diem,
Mike the Lesser