The 9/11 Teaching Moment: How Lynch Mob Psychology And A Global Media Manhunt Destroyed Humanity

Saman Mohammadi
Prisonplanet.com
April 17, 2012

The documentary is fascinating because it captures the irrationality of scapegoating. Once the fans realize the error that Bartman made, the lynch mob mentality took over. The blame game off the field became more interesting than the game on the field. What Bartman did had no psychological consequences on the Cubs players and the outcome of the game, but the mindless fans were angry at the defeat and he became the object of their hate.

In the grand scheme of life and history, this is a meaningless incident. And yet, it is full of meaning. It deserves scrutiny and commentary because of what it reveals about human nature, the cruel practice of scapegoating, and the quickening speed with which a lynch mob can hurl venomous words and death threats at an innocent person.

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

The 2008 film, “The Stoning of Soraya M.,” by Cyrus Nowrasteh, based on a book by Freidoune Sahebjam about Soraya Manutchehri, also captures the same theme of scapegoating and the dangerous pitfalls of lynch mob injustice. It is a story about how a husband turned a small village in Iran against his wife to get rid of her, and the Islamic authorities helped him in his sick and twisted endeavor. He accused her of adultery without evidence, and she was subsequently stoned to death by a lynch mob led by corrupt local government officials who justified the barbaric deed in the name of Islam.

Lynch mob psychology does not recognize time, place, tradition, or law. It can take over a baseball stadium in the American Midwest in 2003, a small village in Iran in 1986, a small town in Massachusetts in 1692, an entire country in Europe in 1933, or an entire civilization in 2001. It is usually used by official authorities, whether political or religious, to pursue their own barbaric and evil goals.

Scapegoating is also primitive, irrational, and stupid. And it is an evil that has remained with us in the 21st century. It is used as a political strategy by the authorities in so-called democratic countries as well as in totalitarian countries. The religious practice of scapegoating, as the French philosopher and literary critic René Girard describes it, is not limited to a particular country, civilization, or system of government.

“The practice of scapegoating is as old as civilisation itself,” writes Jabir Sukar, “and remains an all-too common practice in modern societies, democracies and otherwise.” Scapegoating degrades the character of a society. It destroys humanity.

Whether the context is baseball or war, whether the country is America or Iran, the twin evils of lynch mob psychology and scapegoating have the potential to destroy the humanity of a human community. If both of these psychological and social phenomena are allowed to be utilized by thugs in power for their own political benefit, then they can do anything they want and kill anybody they want.

In a society where scapegoating and lynch mob justice replace the rule of law and dialogue, then anyone who criticizes the government can be turned into a guilty threat and killed. All the government has to do is accuse its innocent victims of being terrorists, and people will accept their murder as legitimate.

Conscious citizens must demand that governments worldwide stop exploiting lynch mob psychology to advance corrupt political agendas. We all remember how the tragedy of 9/11 was exploited by the Bush and Blair administrations, the Israeli government, as well as other governments. America and Israel gained the world’s sympathy after the brutal attacks. This video, “The Day The World Stood Still For America On 9/11,” that was posted on YouTube on September 11, 2001, by 911archives, is a reminder of how sympathetic the whole world was to America. America had the love of all of humanity.

But, after eleven years of fighting criminal and unwinnable wars, America has won nothing but the hatred of all of humanity. It has destroyed the moral values of humanity and the democratic values of Western civilization in the name of bringing an end to the terror that it itself created.

As a civilization and as a world, we must revisit the 9/11 attacks, and do what was not done the first time: ask questions, and tell the media to go to hell. 9/11 must become the ultimate teaching moment.

Saman Mohammadi is the writer and editor at The Excavator Blog

This article was posted: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at 7:11 am

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