Growing up the son of a police officer I have always held a deep appreciation for laws and those who risk their lives to enforce them. Now doubt the foundation to every free society is a system of laws and a people that follow those laws. On Christmas day a man aboard a flight bound for Detroit tried to blow up an airplane and yet failed. While the story is still unfolding, it seems it was a failed attempt due to the device not working as planned and the quick response of fellow passengers. When you are 30,000 ft above the Atlantic ocean there isn’t any official police force that protects us…but thankfully there are laws. I love the idea since 9/11 passengers are more willing then ever to intervene to prevent a terrorist attack by taking the law into their own hands. Now my parents always taught me that this was not the route to take when danger lurks. If someone is being robbed in front of you…call the professionals, the police to come and deal with it…never risk your life to help save someone elses. But is that how we should always respond when we could do something? What about the Golden Rule? What would we want others to do if they were observing us being robbed or hurt by another?
So what are your thoughts about taking the law into our own hands?
Check out this video of two thieves on a motor-scooter flew by and snatched a woman’s purse on a street in Wenzhou, China. As he was passing by the front of a hotel near where the thievery happened, he stopped, calmly got off his bicycle, picked it up, and then threw it at the thieves. The bicycle hit them.
