do unto others

Earlier this week, Dakota DeRemus was beaten to death [allegedly] by a classmate. This story breaks my heart. What doesn't bother me about this?

Boys are going to fight, but this obviously went way way way too far. Word is that the killer had been bullying Dakota for two years. Hate is a powerful thing. Why would one young man feel the need to pick at another? Some people feel better when they are tearing down someone else. It happens in the adult world too.

Story is that there were 3-4 other boys, friends of the killer who stood around and watched the fight. 4 vs. 1. Real nice. I am sure the fear that Dakota felt before the fight was terrible. One of the onlookers videotaped the beating on his cell phone. Nice. I am sure his father is proud today.

When the beating is over, the boys just walk away, leaving Dakota alone on the ground to die.

Parenting is so important. One of the most important things that we can teach our children is to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." When we become disconnected from our children and stop paying attention to what they are doing, the results can be tragic. I hope that the parents of the boys left alive will have some long talks with their sons about "doing unto others."

That's my opinion. Preaching. Meddling.

As I consider how I see people treat each other, I have not witnessed a fight like this, but I have watched as adults, neighbors and church members were mean to each other. For little or no reason. For reasons that will not matter in one year. Mean to each other because change made them uncomfortable or they felt out of the loop in some way. Do unto others. Do unto others. Do unto others. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

This is still the day that the Lord has made. Do unto others.