By now I'm sure you've heard of the terrible story of a man riding the bus through Manitoba who was suddenly attacked and beheaded by the man sitting next to him (if you haven't, you can read up on the story here). I, like many others, have been horrified and haunted by this story, wondering what kind of person would do such a crime and what would motivate it. As you can imagine there has been lots of discussion lately about the case itself and one of the interesting ones that hasn't gotten a lot of discussion is that of the "heroism of the passengers."
You see, when the story first broke, a high ranking police officer made public comments commending the heroism of the passengers who remained relatively calm, got everyone off the bus, and prevented the attacker from getting off. When I first heard these comments I agreed. Yesterday though on the radio I heard someone interviewing David Balzer who does a show called Godtalk. Although Balzer felt strong compassion for the passengers and event hough he himself didn't know how he would react in such a situation, he did not view the passengers as "heroes." Why not? Because they didn't do anything to help poor Tim McClean as he was was attacked. Instead they shuffled right by and left him to be butchered. Balzer said that if he was the victim, the only thing he would have wanted was for someone to help him - and no one did. According to Balzer, a hero would intervene and do something to help. Instead they fled. Balzer was distressed by this apparent overpowering sense of self-preservation and thinks it is a symptom of a societal problem.
It was interesting listening to people call in afterwards. Some were super angry with Balzer - how could he possibly judge those people when he wasn't there and experiencing what those traumatized people on the bus experienced? Others echoed Balzer's sentiments - the people on the bus probably did what any of us would have, but the term "heroes" should not apply. I'm not sure where I am on it, I go back and forth. One thing is for sure, there are a whole lot of people (passengers, friends, family, attacker) who need a lot of prayer right now.
P.S. The picture is of Tim McClean with his ex-girlfriend's daughter.
Church service at Holy Church near Rescue 1
4 weeks ago
3 comments:
I think it's easy to make comments about what should have been done when you're not there. Though to clarify, from what I've read they didn't shuffle past as he was stabbed; the attack happened in the very rear of the bus. They ran away from it, but not beside it.
I don't think I'd call all the passengers heroes though. I know there was a guy who quickly alerted the driver and then proceeded to herd the other passengers off, and I think he was amongst the three men that went back to see if they could help. Those guys were very brave to do so, and they prevented the killer's escape as well.
I think the reason the police called all the passengers heroes was twofold; one, they did do what the police recommend, not endangering yourself. Had any of them stayed to help and been overpowered, now there is a potential hostage situation, or another victim. If you don't have any training, trying to take down a guy with a knife unarmed in an enclosed space like a bus is almost suicide, since you have no room to move. Secondly, it was probably a way to try and boost the spirits of the passengers, even a little. They saw some horrific things nobody should ever have to see. Praising them for taking the recommended police action was a small way to do so.
As I glance at your original post again Mark, were all the passengers commended as heroes, or just the ones who got everyone off the bus and kept the killer contained?
Jay
Hey Jay,I'm trying to find the link to one of the original articles, but I believe it was a general comment that was for all the passengers. Can anyone confirm that?
I suppose if you see a person as either a hero or not, it's easy to put the passengers in one place or another. If you see it differently, say as being on a continuum with heroism at one end and non-heroism (or cowardice) on the other end then I would agree and say that the three guys (and the one in particular) were closer to the "hero" side then the other passengers.
Maybe it boils down to how you define hero. The American heritage dictionary defines hero as "A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life: soldiers and nurses who were heroes in an unpopular war." Did all the passengers risk themselves? I don't think so. But the three who went back on the bus did.
it's all about opinions, and everyone is entitled to them. the guy who was on godtalk called the people on the bus cowards for fleeing the scene, well that's his opinion. and the cops who arrived on the scene called those same people heroes, if that's their opinion of them, then they're entitled to it. me, i'm staying right in the middle because my opinion is, they were neither heroes nor cowards, they were just people in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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