I was reading a book by Ted Dekker last night when I came across an interesting idea about society. The book is about a mass murderer that kidnaps a young girl. In her seemingly hopeless situation she considered that she might become a victim of Stockholm Syndrome. This syndrome is a condition in which a victim might over time become brainwashed into sympathizing with their captor despite all logical reasons to the contrary. In the context of the story the line of reasoning was apt. What caught my eye, and I would guess most people would just read over it, was one little sentence. One quote that had such weight and profundity that I had to stop and read it over and over...
"The world was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome".
As I walk through life I have wondered aloud, "What in the world were they thinking", so many times it has become almost a mantra. I see people all around making such obviously bad decisions that I am baffled. The worst part though is when anyone tries to intercede and offer better options. It seems that by placing myself in their world and trying to help I become demonized. Until I read those words by Ted Dekker I was perplexed. I knew that we live in a fallen world. I knew that our enemy had a stronghold on people. I even knew that my thinking was no longer mainstream... but I felt that if I could just shine a light onto the situation, people would be able to see and back away from that which was causing them harm. Now I see that really, their actions are a defense mechanism to insulate their psyche from the horror of what they knew as truth, but felt they could not attain... so they gave up.
I don't know the solution, but every day I will continue to try to figure it out. Maybe my logical mind has a part in God's plan. Maybe something I say to someone will be repeated somewhere else and have an impact there. Whatever it may be I just hope I never reach the point of giving up that I see in the eyes of many around me. May Gods Grace protect you and I and those that we love from this trap.
