Lynch Party!

Lynch:
 
verb
 (of a mob) kill (someone), especially by hanging, for an alleged offense with or without a legal trial.

Mob

noun

1. 1.
   a large crowd of people, especially one that is disorderly and intent on causing trouble or violence.

 
 
Did you attend high school American history? 
  I did.  It was one of my favorite classes.  I loved learning about how this nation gained its independence.  I was fascinated by the Civil War.  The taming of the west and it’s outlaws captured my imagination, and the Civil Rights movement inspired me and broke my heart seeing the pain endured by so many so unfairly.
  One of the traditions in the old west that carried into the first half of the 20th century is that of a Lynch Party.  Lynch Parties were "jolly affairs".  The towns people, feeling bored and needing excitement, would find something to take offense at.  A perceived slight, a persons color, a legal infraction, it really didn’t matter as long as it provided an opportunity to gather together united in a common goal.. to destroy another human being.
  Our good townspeople would then grab their trusty torches, combine together and form what is affectionately referred to as a Mob.  Mobs had their own mentality.  They worked together as one, and with great courage, honor, and a sense of self-righteousness.  The mob was usually able to overpower whatever law enforcement official who might intervene and take custody of the offending individual.
  The Lynch-ee, as we might call him, was beaten, sometimes tarred and feathered, and tortured in other humiliating ways.  The grand climax of the evening was to toss a rope over the branch of a tree and leave the Lynch-ee hanging dead, a deterrent to other would-be offenders, and a warning that the town was full of kind hearted people who wouldn’t tolerate any nonsense.
  If you are interested in historical documentations of this time-honored tradition, just google it.  There are numerous accounts and even photos. 
 
But fret not..
 
YOU CAN TAKE PART IN LYNCH PARTIES TODAY!
 
  In the immortal words of Bob Dylan, “the times they are a changing.”, but people don’t.  It’s now considered impolite to take torches and hang people from trees when they do something to annoy us.  In our society, we are expected to act with tolerance and open-mindedness.  Until about 2004 when we were blessed with Facebook, mobs were only in history classes.  The great miracle of social media has once again given good people the opportunity to experience mob mentality, and to participate in the sacred and historic rite of the public lynching.
 
  I live about twenty minutes from Preston, Idaho, and have friends, family, and other ties to Preston.

  This week, a story has gone viral about a Science teacher who fed an under developed almost dead puppy to a snapping turtle.  The story was misreported, exaggerated, and damaging.
  As I’ve watched the story evolve on social media, I’ve seen those directly involved with the incident make statements to clarify what really happened.  There has been overwhelming support for the teacher.  These statements are met with threats of violence, insults, foul language, and vicious epithets. There was a Facebook post started to encourage violence against the Preston School District, and Police are at the school as I write this blog.
  My purpose in writing is not to take a stance on the teacher.  The local authorities have taken appropriate action, the teacher is still employed, and I’m satisfied that they have the situation well in hand.  I do, however, find it disheartening and alarming that people who claim to be kind caring and compassionate, and full of concern for a puppy are advocating for violence.  On the page of a supportive mother, a Facebook Mobber suggested that the mother feed her own children to the turtle.
  Yesterday, children walked out of schools across the country in the name of stopping violence and remembering the victims of the last mass shooting.  In my opinion, shootings will continue, violence will continue, and pain will continue so long as the Media, and every well meaning computer crusader encourage and participate in the public lynching’s of innocent people.
 
And that’s all I have to say about that.
 
 

---