The fear factor
published: Wednesday | October 8, 2003
THE EDITOR, Sir:
I FEEL a sense of shame and embarrassment to be a product of a society where people in our capital city saw a woman being stabbed repeatedly, and no one went to her aid. When did we come to this sorry state, and when do we begin to realise that the more apathetic we are, the more the forces of evil and anarchy will thrive? The more we allow the "fear factor" to overwhelm us, the more things are going to get out of hand.
For, the people who thrive on evil also thrive on the notion that we are all going to recoil in fear. Once we stand up to them, we would be surprised at the kinds of results that we can get.
Your editorial of October 2, 2003 argued that we cannot legislate to force people to be good Samaritans. That may be true. However, there is at least one society that is trying that. The French actually have, as part of their penal code, a law that makes "non assistance aux personnes en danger " (not coming to the aid of someone who is in danger) a punishable offence.
The pity is that we should need such a law in the first place. However, it appears that, in Jamaica, being a good Samaritan has gone the way of the good manners that once used to characterise us.
