“Stockholm Syndrome”
Hello all. Today I will be addressing the condition they call Stockholm Syndrome. You might know it well from television shows movies and literature that mention the situation in which a hostage or hostages develop a psychological bond with their captor or captors.
The other day I watched a riveting documentary on Netflix entitled “The 13th”, some of you may have already seen it. It begins by stating the clause in the 13th Amendment that allows for slavery in cases of criminal incarceration. Upon viewing this, I began to look back at my schooling and remembering what I read and was told about the amendment and realized I didn’t remember too much about this clause nor was I taught it. However, the documentary went on to show that slavery itself still existed, and, in fact, was broader than it was 200 years ago.
It essentially showed that all law enforcement had to do to garner corporations slaves was to step up prosecution of offenders, i.e. the poor, minorities, women and immigrants, or plant evidence on them. It told how Nixon stepped up this effort with the “war on drugs” in ‘73, Reagan continued it and Clinton escalated it further with “three strikes you’re out” in the mid 90s guaranteeing a host of major corporations slaves from the late 20th century to today. “The powers that be” simply “pulled a fast one” on the American public.
Jesus preached that we should love our enemies. He taught this to the oppressed Israelites during the time of his ministry. However, the vast majority of them did not heed his lesson. Jerusalem burned 70 years after his crucifixion and the Gentiles absorbed his message en masse and used it to topple the Roman Empire and other tyrannical regimes throughout history.
Some might call this strategy a type of Stockholm Syndrome and look at it as a form of weakness, however, if used patiently, consistently, consciously, and effectively it can lead to momentous results. Remember God loves you and so do I.
