The internet is a zombieland. We pursue our victims, enmasse, thoughtlessly and viciously. Never sated and always hungry for more brains. No matter the severity of the crime or if it even happened at all. All Punisher and no Batman. Justice now, due process later.
The Boston Bombing was one of the most heinous acts committed in recent times. And even before the suspects were apprehended, the internet decided that they found the bomber. They thought it was Sunil Tripathi, an Indian student. And so the onslaught against him and family began.
Only...
Only, Sunil Tripathi had committed suicide a few days before the actual bombing. As such, the parents of a grieving son were dealt the double blow of a grievous loss and the destruction our their son's memory before the world.
Endless stories can be written about the victims of Zombieland. World War Z? We're already fighting it. Witch hunt? It started long before.
Look into the, Texas, immigrant bodega clerk that had his face filled with buckshot days after the attacks on 9/11.
No one is immune from attracting the gaze of the tsunami. Your sin is inescapable. A scarlet letter is visible, even if you don't deserve it.
And prejudices are of course the first to flare it’s diseased head. Before the internet, scapegoating was always in fashion.
Here is a story that goes back all the way back to the Deccan Plateau. Written in Sanskrit and retold a billion times over is the story of Kali.
Without going into the dept of Hindu philosophy and the pantheon of avatars, Gods, and Goddess; let me just start in the middle. Because life always starts in the middle.
There was this rampaging Buffalo headed demon named Mahisa. He had a vast army, and had a super power that could not be stopped. Every time a drop of blood hit the ground, another clone of him appeared.
The Gods alone could not stop the destruction of the demon, so they combined their powers much like the wonder twins or captain planet, and manifested an avatar of Shiva’s wife, Parvathi. This form was Durga Devi, which translates to unstoppable or fortress.
“ This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.”- The Joker
Basically Durga Devi is the OG Batman with a ton of weapons and few extra arms. Although, she does reach a stalemate with the Demon.
“They know it not, yet I reside in the essence of the Universe. Hear, one and all, the truth as I declare it. I, verily, myself announce and utter the word that gods and men alike shall welcome.”- Shakti
The great mother goddess gets so angry that she transforms into her Super Saiyan ascended form, or other wise known as Kali.
Kali, promptly rips off the demons head and drinks all the blood.
Crisis averted, the day is saved.
Except, Kali is still pure rage and power and won’t power down. So, she continues to rage across the universe and kills everything in sight. (Moral of the story, hint hint, cough cough.)
And so, everyone prays to Shiva to try to bring Kali/Durga/Parvathi back to her senses.
Shiva cannot stop her, nor reason with her. So he does the one thing he can do. He offers his own body as a sacrifice. Kali, begins to trample on her own husband. And soon the realization begins to sink in that that Shiva is her husband and her other half. Finally, she powers down. And the universe regains equanimity.
Why did I just tell you this abridged myth from Hinduism? It is because it is a story about how unification can bring justice against true evil, when one cannot alone. Simultaneously, it explains how a unison forged by good intentions and collective effort can grow to lose all self control and began to run amok. Those things that you love and seek to protect are the very ones that become vulnerable to destruction and ruin.
Shiva and Parvathi, always together dancing in a harmonious cosmic unison. Out of uncontrollable imbalance, she attacks the man that she loves. And in the end it is only love that reminds you who you are.
In the beginning and the end, the answer is always love.