It is amazing that in the last few days London, and then elsewhere in the UK including Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and elsewhere, have been rampaged by rioters and looters. I received a text last night from a friend that called for the Christians to pray for rain--terrential rain--that God might prevent anymore senseless destruction and brutality from occurring. And rain it has been for the last day and a half (in York at least). Still, more tragedy occurred: three men were killed Tuesday night and many others hospitalized from the violence.
Read here for a timeline on what happened and potential reasons:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14436499
What strikes me is that I feel like I'm having flashbacks to the Rodney King incident in the States back in the 90s and the chaos that followed in LA. The difference now is the ability for rioters to rally together through facebook, Twitter and other technologically advanced means. But inspiring stories are also being reported: ones of those using the same technology to come together as a community and help clean up the mess left behind. (See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14462058) Reading about people like this--coming out and making change by doing something constructive gives me hope in the majority of people out there.
Let this be an example to us of why it is important not to remain silent. A terrible tragedy occurred (the shooting of Mark Duggan by a police officer is what seems to have sparked the violence), but when the tragedy seems to spark something that leads to more of the same, the power of a community can make a difference: in healing, in preventing more hatred and discrimination, in supporting those who have been hurt.
They didn't let fear win the day, rather they are saying enough is enough and doing something about it.
