Gangs, frats, and life in Christ

Anyone following the news here in Wenatchee two weeks ago probably remembers the fire that killed two young boys ages 4 and 6. Upon investigation it was determined that the cause of the fire was gang related arson. While the loss of two young children is always a tragedy, the fact that it was gang related makes it doubly so. The people who lived in the house and were involved in gangs weren’t even home when the fire happened.  I am sure that in the wake of such a tragedy there are a lot of fingers being pointed at a lot of different people, most of whom could have done very little to actually prevent these deaths.  It has all made me spend some time pondering gang activity and the young people who choose to get involved in it. I firmly believe that most young people who get involved in gangs and gang related activity do so for very good reasons. They realize that deep within their soul is a longing to be something more than just another lone wolf facing the world. They feel that deep human need for companionship that is spelled out in the book of Genesis when God looked at Adam and said that “it is not good for man to be alone.” It is the same thing that draws thousands of college students every year to pledge their loyalty to a fraternity or a sorority and engage in behavior that is rarely distinguishable from that of a common street gang, namely drinking, doing drugs, sleeping around, and picking fights with rival groups on campus. The main difference is that when such behavior involves Hispanic or Black youth we call them gangs, claim we have a problem, and then send in the police to arrest people. When it is wealthy or middle class white kids we call it part of the growing up process, build them a house, ask the police to turn a blind eye and encourage our youth to join. While I realize that I am making some rather broad generalizations, I think my point is still valid. No matter what you choose to call it, the end result where the human soul seeks companionship and community in imitation of the Divine Trinity, yet falls for a destructive and cheap imitation offered by the Devil is still the same.   I firmly believe that the best method for countering such behavior begins in our own homes. Gang and fraternity life is merely a cheap knockoff of the domestic family. Young people frequently (but certainly not always) turn to gangs to fill up a space left by divorced parents, single parents, absent work-a-holic parents and a variety of other family problems.  For me it comes as no surprise that youth and gang related violence is on the rise around the world today (like in London) and that we seem powerless to stop it.  What we are seeing is the natural course of things when governments and societies actively seek to destroy natural family relationships by enacting laws that undermine parental authority or attempt to go against natural law by redefining marriage and what it means to be a family. It doesn’t matter how many people support such ridiculousness, it remains ridiculous and destructive and ultimately we want to reject it.  Something is missing deep within our souls and we desire it by our very nature. We crave solid family relationships and friendships, firmly rooted in Christ and his Church.  Whether we realize it or not, we all just want to be loved unconditionally. People turn to gangs and frats because there they can get away with deviant behavior and no one looks at it twice.  They want to suspend all reason and let their passions run away with them  because it feels good, so it must be right. No one is going to judge them and tell them that they were wrong for sleeping with their girlfriend/boyfriend or doing drugs, or getting drunk. In fact this hedonistic behavior is encouraged and promoted as the best way to live llife. For us the challenge is how do we respond to their behavior?  We can just hope that a judge somewhere throws the book at them (if they are breaking the law), or that their destructive lifestyle  brings them nothing but pain; but is that what Christ would have us do? I believe that even someone who burns down a house on two little kids can truly be sorry for what they have done and find forgiveness in the eyes of God.  We are called to challenge them to be the men and women that God has created them to be not out of a judgmental attitude (as many of them suppose) but rather out of love. The kind of sacrificial and self-giving love that deep down they are really searching for. It is not something that can just be talked about, it is something that must be lived by all of us.  This is extremely challenging in our modern culture (and probably all other cultures throughout history) because there is always someone else telling us that there is an easier way to love than the Cross.  The Devil is constantly helping science to come up with new ways for humanity to seek pleasure and turn a blind eye to the consequences. Only when our society learns that love is about the other and not about ourselves will we see the end of fraternities and gangs and the destruction they bring. Instead we will see them as they are meant to be, groups like the Knights of Columbus, Catholic Daughters, and the household system at Franciscan University and Ave Maria. Brotherhoods of men (or sisterhoods of women) gathered together in Christ to serve his people and make the world a better place.