Kidnapping—Its Underlying Causes
KIDNAPPINGS have become a modern plague. But so have murder, rape, theft, child molestation, and even genocide. Why has life become so dangerous that people often fear to venture from their homes at night?
The underlying causes of this epidemic of criminal activity, including kidnappings, are connected with deeply rooted flaws within human society. Did you realize that nearly 2,000 years ago, the Bible foretold these dangerous times? Please consider what was foretold at 2 Timothy 3:2-5.
“Men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, self-assuming, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, disloyal, having no natural affection, not open to any agreement, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness, betrayers, headstrong, puffed up with pride, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, having a form of godly devotion but proving false to its power.”
You probably agree that these words recorded long ago describe the situation today perfectly. In our lifetime festering flaws in human society have erupted with a vengeance. Significantly, the above description of lamentable human conduct is introduced in the Bible with the words: “In the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here.” (2 Timothy 3:1) Let us consider just three of society’s major flaws that have contributed to the epidemic of kidnappings.
Problems With Law Enforcement
“Because sentence against a bad work has not been executed speedily, that is why the heart of the sons of men has become fully set in them to do bad.”—Ecclesiastes 8:11.
Many police forces lack resources to cope with the epidemic of criminal activity. So in many countries, kidnapping is a crime that pays. In 1996, as few as 2 percent of all Colombian kidnappers were prosecuted. In Mexico, at least $200 million was paid in ransom money in 1997. Some kidnappers in the Philippines have even accepted checks for ransom payment.
In addition, corruption within law enforcement agencies sometimes thwarts efficient crime fighting. Heads of elite antikidnapping squads in Mexico, Colombia, and former Soviet republics have themselves been accused of kidnapping. In the magazine Asiaweek, the president of the Philippine Senate, Blas Ople, says that official figures show that 52 percent of the kidnappings in the Philippines involve active or retired police or military men. A notorious Mexican kidnapper was said to have been shielded by “a wall of official protection cemented together with bribes to municipal, state and federal police officers and prosecutors.”
Poverty and Social Injustice
“I myself returned that I might see all the acts of oppression that are being done under the sun, and, look! the tears of those being oppressed, but they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power.”—Ecclesiastes 4:1.
Many people today are in desperate economic and social situations, and they are often the ones who commit kidnappings. So in a world where the gap between rich and poor is constantly widening and where the possibilities to earn money in an honest way are often scarce, kidnapping will continue to be a temptation. As long as there is oppression, kidnapping will be a means to strike back and to draw attention to what is considered an intolerable situation.
Greed and Lack of Love
“The love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things.” (1 Timothy 6:10) “Because of the increasing of lawlessness the love of the greater number will cool off.”—Matthew 24:12.
Throughout history the love of money has caused people to do heinous things. And perhaps no other crime commercializes human anguish, grief, and despair to the same extent as kidnapping. For many it is greed—the love of money—that pushes them to brutalize and torture a stranger and put his family through a cruel ordeal for weeks, months, and sometimes years.
Clearly, something is terribly wrong with a society that stresses money and tramples human values underfoot. Without a doubt, this situation provides a breeding ground for all kinds of criminal activity, including kidnapping.
Does this mean that we are in what the Bible calls “the last days”? If so, what will this mean for the earth and for us? Is there a solution to the terrible problems facing humankind, including kidnapping?
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Nothing New
The Mosaic Law meted out capital punishment for kidnappers as far back as the 15th century B.C.E. (Deuteronomy 24:7) Julius Caesar was kidnapped for ransom in the first century B.C.E., as was Richard I, the Lionhearted, king of England, in the 12th century C.E. The highest ransom ever paid was the 24 tons of gold and silver that the Incas gave to the Spanish conqueror Francisco Pizarro to obtain the release of their captured chief Atahuallpa in 1533. The conquistadores nevertheless strangled him to death.
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Despite police resources, kidnappings are prevalent