People know righteousness when they see it

Today I stumbled on a couple of human interest stories regarding the two kids in the viral video with the bully getting body slammed . Here is a link to the main story that saw:Bully Richard Gale Interview. What I find interesting about this is the huge disparity with which people react to this story and the way that the media reacts. In almost every story that I read, barring blog posts and less official outlets, the obvious tone is that although the bulling was not great, the response was bad too. In many cases, this is not just the under tone but overtly stated. Of course, based on the comments for the youtube clips, facebook, and all other sources of real person responses that I have come across, normal people are overwhelmingly supportive of Casey Heynes (the kid who was being bullied).

What I find interesting about the responses is that everyone seems to immediately seem that this was an act of righteousness. A boy was confronted with evil, and forcefully responded. The experience was good for both boys. The one being bullied, now knows how to confront evil when its in his path, and the bully has (hopefully) learned the folly of his wickedness. I believe that this is the true reason that this video has resonated with so many people, more so than because of simple empathy. I don't believe that I have ever been bullied like that, just the opposite in fact. But this video strikes a cord in me just the same.  It is inspiring to see a boy stand up, conquer his fear, and do what is right.

This begs the question, what is it that has so seared the consciences of today's journalists that they are unable to correctly see what is so obvious to everyone else?

The other thing that bothers me is that in making the “other side of the story” news clip, they really are taking away from what the bully should be learning here. He needs to learn that you reap what you sow. He is thinking of himself as a victim, when he is not, and by giving voice to those thoughts they are just help him to divorce the consequences from his actions in his own mind.