A year has passed since Luigi Mangione allegedly pulled the trigger on UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. When arrested, Mangione received a tidal wave of sympathy that emanated everywhere from online forums and social media to the streets of Manhattan. People across the country celebrated the accused killer as a quasi-folk hero who struck a blow against what they saw as the vile institution of American healthcare.
Ed Davis, a former Boston police commissioner who led the police response to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, saw the outpouring of support for Mangione and
remarked, “I’ve been shocked by it. It’s actually troubling to see it, and I really am surprised that people are reacting that way considering the tragic loss here and the violence of what happened.”
The support for Mangione hasn’t cooled down over the past year, as evidenced by a $1.4 million crowd-sourced legal defense fund and the continued displays of public support that appeared at his court hearings this month. Jeff Goodwin, a New York University professor who studies social movements,
said, “He had the chutzpah to actually do something spectacular, which certain people find attractive and courageous.”
I’m not the only one disturbed by people describing murder as being “spectacular” and “attractive” — Heather Mac Donald, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute,
stated: “The only question after the assassination and its immediate celebration is: What the heck is going on with America’s moral compass?”
Mangione’s celebrators brought to my mind what Paul spoke about centuries ago: “They were fully aware of God’s death penalty for these crimes, yet they went right ahead and did them anyway and encouraged others to do them, too” (
Rom. 1:32).
Someone else who sees this in our culture is Croatian theologian
Miroslav Volf, who makes a connection with a disbelief in God and the kind of social justice violence we see when he
writes: “Most people who insist on God’s ‘nonviolence’ cannot resist using violence themselves (or tacitly sanctioning its use by others).”
Volf then makes an excellent point when he notes the important distinction between Christianity and the secular culture’s methods for pursuing justice: “The practice of non-violence requires belief in divine vengeance.”
Think about that.
Continued below.
What the heck is going on with America s moral compass
www.christianpost.com