“Peace on Earth” missing on Black Friday

“Peace on Earth and good will toward men” gave way to radical consumerism, a mob mentality, and a young man trampled to death the Friday after Thanksgiving at a Wal-Mart in New York.

Some 2,000 people gathered during the night and morning hours prior to a 5 a.m. opening of a Wal-Mart on Long Island as “Black Friday” kicked off the Christmas shopping season.

When the doors were opened, store employee Jdimytai Damour, age 28, was knocked to the ground. Dozens of store employees tried to rescue him but several of those, too, were trampled. A pregnant woman was also injured and had to be taken to the hospital.

A police detective said that the “crowd was out of control” and described the scene as “utter chaos.” One onlooker described the crowd as “savages.” All in the mad rush to save a few bucks.

The world’s attention was focused that Thanksgiving week on Mumbai, India, where murderous terrorists engaged in shootings and bombings that left 172 dead and around 300 wounded. Yet, in some ways, the event in New York was just as troubling.

The crowd outside Wal-Mart was motivated not by politics or religion or even hatred — they were motivated by greed.

There were probably good people in that crowd of 2,000 — likely, many were church-going Christians. If so, they too were caught up in the madness of that moment and a great tragedy occurred.

The hope is always that Christmas brings out the best in people. The Salvation Army, the Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots Program, and countless other ministries, programs, and charities depend on the generous heart of people during the holiday season.

But the season also brings out the worst in people. American Police Beat Magazine reported in its December 2008 edition that the chance of a police officer being killed on Christmas Day is 56 percent higher than on a normal day.

This Christmas season may even be a bit more difficult to navigate than recent seasons. There is little doubt that millions of Americans are out of work with millions more under-employed.

There is the very real possibility that, as politicians have said, things could get worse before they get better.

The nation is war-weary, yet was recently informed that within five years terrorists are likely to launch a biological or nuclear attack on the United States.

Will the financial structures survive? Will the Detroit auto industry go belly-up? Will gas prices, currently low, skyrocket once again? No one knows for sure and, so, people are nervous.

But behavior, civil and un-civil, always remains a choice. People can choose to be generous and selfless during difficult times or people can choose to act like “savages” and stomp the life out of a young man.

We choose to be polite and we choose to be rude; no one chooses for us.

Jesus is still the reason for the season — but the family of Jdimytai Damour will have a hard time seeing that as they mourn his loss at the hands of Christmas shoppers.

[David Epps serves as a bishop to the Diocese of the Mid-South, encompassing Georgia and Tennessee. He is also the founding pastor of Christ the King Church, 4881 Hwy. 34 E., Sharpsburg, GA 30277, between Peachtree City and Newnan. Services are held Sundays at 8 and 10 a.m. Bishop Epps is also the mission pastor of Christ the King Church in Champaign, IL. He may be contacted at frepps@ctkcec.org.]