Causing These Little Ones to Stumble

             If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.  (Matthew 18:6)

 

            If we would imitate Christ, we must protect those who are weak, like children. In the first half of the 1990s, counselors found a remarkable number of children, teens, and adults who, under their care, recovered lost memories of abuse as children. The problem is that the events in question never happened. The memories were implanted in their minds by the very people who were trying to help them. It’s not the psychiatrists were nasty folks intent on messing with the minds of their patients. They were honestly trying to help, but the result was catastrophic for the patients and those they accused.

            Not long ago, there was a demand that we should always “Believe the victim,” even though the victim could not provide solid evidence that they were victimized. I have been told that if someone was afraid of being victimized by someone or some group, their fears must be treated as justified, even if there was no actual threat.

            Robert Sirico speaks about trying to help people who are in crisis. When hurricanes devastate an area, he notes that his instinct (like ours) is to either rush in to help or have someone else rush in to help. People sent stuffed animals to the living victims of the Sandy Hook massacre, and the toys ended up stacked in warehouses. People (including me) sent clothes to help folks after Hurricane Katrina. As I understand it, almost all of the clothing was dumped. People sent clothing to East Africa in response to needs there, and destroyed the East African textile industry. Others sent eggs to west Asia, and those who had chicken farms lost their only source of income.

            Our society has made this huge “discovery” of gender dysphoria. And just as happened in the 1990s, people are all up in arms about making things right for these poor folks who are suffering so grievously because they are in “the wrong body.” But what if our trying to make things “right” is creating a bigger problem? What if trying to make things “right” causes more damage than leaving things “wrong”?

            If we are to imitate Christ, we must help the weak and needy, but we must also be careful that our “help” doesn’t cause them to stumble.