Inaction: Watching People in Need Instead of Helping
What is it about humans that causes them to watch instead of help, stand by instead of act? What is the bystander effect and inaction?
“you can also commit injustice by doing nothing.” –Marcus Aurelius.
Have you ever witnessed a subway altercation, an overacting patron at a restaurant, or bullying and wondered why others don’t help? Or perhaps you were the one who hid in the crowd of people who did not act? Psychologists term this phenomenon the “bystander effect.” The bystander effect is a type of inaction that everyone eventually partakes in. But what is it about humans that causes them to watch instead of help, stand by instead of act?
Hesitation to help a stranger in need is sometimes the last few seconds they have — seconds that could have changed the outcome or saved a life. Perhaps some people are embarrassed to be the first to help. Or maybe we fear getting involved and becoming the target of an altercation? Or perhaps we fool ourselves into thinking we help by offering thoughts and prayers from a safe distance?
Religion and Political Inaction
That’s precisely what reformed modern religion defaults to — sit around and offer up thoughts and prayers, yet do nothing, which leads me to the next point.
Are some religious folks sitting around waiting for their savior to descend from the sky magically? Then have God go out and do all their heavy lifting? This external dependence is yet another reason people don’t help when they should.
Whatever the reason, this type of behavior is known as inaction. And inaction is a growing problem as more people prefer to witness the event from afar instead of lending a helping hand.
I would be remiss to discuss hypocritical religious inaction yet not mention some contradictory teachings about it. Therefore, specific scriptures from the Bible come to mind.
“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” –James 2:14–17
In addition, Jesus himself taught:
“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men … but when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your father who is unseen.” — Matthew 6:5–8
But this article is no sermon, and I am no preacher. Instead, I point out religious hypocrisy. Some “godly” folks may like to exclude themselves from the ones who don’t help others in need, but that’s not the case. Some so-called Christians might even excuse themselves from helping by hiding behind what’s called slacktivism.
Slactivists practice the subtle art of appearing to give a F*ck while not actually helping. The slackers act via fake activism instead of taking real action. When the secular person catches this artificial behavior, it raises the question of “Are We Better Off Without Religion?” But then again, non-religious people can be guilty of slacktivism at times as well.
Let’s ask a hypothetical question for all the slacktivists. What if Jesus came back today? Would he take one look around and say: “God and I send our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to the great people of Earth.” Then head back up to Heaven, never to return.
Now on to politics and inaction. Slacktivist leaders are guilty of this same inaction. In fact, the above hypothetical quote from Jesus is nearly what former President Donald Trump said after the 2019 Texas mass shooting. “…Melania and I send our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to the great people of Texas.” Therefore, Thoughts and Prayers in Politics also have no reason to be preached to citizens when the mumblings entangle with inaction.
Inaction and Cell Phones
Consider how you navigated through your day today. Your routine likely involved several digital interactions with your phone. Conceivably you browsed social media, then perhaps sent out thoughts and prayers to all the mass tragedy victims by day’s end. However, like Jesus said, “do not be like the hypocrites.” Prayers are fine, but not when used as an excuse to non-participate where you can.
For those who start their day without prayer, that is fine too. Even so, believers and non-believers toss meaningless expressions around like a balloon at a concert. Some hit the balloon over to another. Everyone sees the balloons as they are shared. Nevertheless, the balloons eventually disappear in the end. And the ones the balloons touched along the way were unaffected, barely to be remembered afterward.
We trick ourselves into thinking that we accomplish great things, start revolutions and that our online complaining somehow makes a difference. However, we often do these things as armchair participants — nonparticipants in life. While in reality, we do little more than communicate, only tossing pretty balloons around. Humans have merely found a hypnotizing way to share information in this new age. But that is all our phones offer during times of need — a unique and enchanting way to exchange information.
Nothing physical comes from digital 0s and 1s until we act. Sure, we can communicate human language through computer language online. For all that, at the end of the day, we are still only staring at a glowing screen, searching for something. Something greater than ourselves. Instead, we should look at how great we could be if we removed the distractions. Or if we repurposed our distractions into something useful, we could hear the outcry over all the digital noise.
Conclusion
In the African Savanna, if a lion is near, the friendly birds tweet from above and alert the other animals. The animals that ignore the call to action get devoured. We have all the communication tools but fail to employ them correctly. Society ignores the useful tweets. Instead, we listen to the mockingbirds and blind ourselves to distractions. As a result, we become self-created vultures. Picking up the pieces the predators left behind. Everyone who blends with the flock in search of garbage — they are the vultures, gobbling up digital junk food. The mockingbirds are those who tweet out “thoughts and prayers” yet do nothing.
Never hide in a closet praying when you must act right now. Especially to stop a guy with a gun from “purposefully” entering the building, as was the alleged case with a security officer during the Parkland Shooting. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you have completed your part when someone with needs requires help. Like when a child or employee gets bullied. It’s not always safe or appropriate to intervene in public chaos, but when we can, we must.
“But inaction is not inevitable. The good news is that we are sometimes able to overcome this tendency. And it turns out that becoming aware of the factors that help us to do so may enable us to step up even when others do not. — Catherine A. Sanderson, Why We Act
The real danger is inaction. We should all be terrified of inaction when we could have helped. Especially as the lion blends with its surroundings, then suddenly emerge as a bully, angry patron, or an active shooter. Should we allow the ones with the biggest mouths or those holding the guns to be the Kings of the Jungle? Remember, lions live in the Savanna, as my wise 9-year-old daughter reminded me recently. So, therefore, lions seen in the jungle are imposters.
Society is no longer surprised by the news about atrocities. Bad news happens so frequently that we are numb to it. Yet it should not be like this. We have seen the tragedies. We all know the outcomes. Yet we are often still witnessed as idle bystanders. Society must intervene and change the outcome. We must act!
So at the very least, if you witness an act of public disorder, don’t record the event and send out thoughts and prayers to your flock. Instead, put the phone to actual use by calling 911 and then smack some reality over the head of the perpetrator.