What Would You Do?

I was in the Wilkinson Center dropping off Christmas cards at the post office just now and a bunch of students were gathered around the big TV watching a news report. One of the X-Men groups was in L.A. fighting some super-criminal. I stopped to watch for a minute and some of the comments I heard from people nearby made me feel sick: "Why do they have to do that in public?" "Can't they keep their mutant business to themselves?" "Ugh. That black dyke with the mohawk just ruined women for me." I only heard one guy defending them: "They're using their powers to help people. Who are you to judge?" After that comment, made loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, everyone shut up. Whether they felt guilty for being judgmental or were now silently judging the guy who spoke up, I don't know. I left quickly, afraid someone might catch me checking out Storm on the TV.

I'm thinking about what that guy said. If mutant powers are bad because they don't come from God, but you use them to do good, what does that make you? I don't know.

I do know this: If I were in one of those What Would You Do? videos, I would be the guy who feels sheepish at the end when the host asks him why he didn't step in to defend his fellow human beings. I am a coward.