How to protect yourself and your family in an unsafe environment

Tang Jianhua

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic, the world has been filled with an atmosphere of insecurity. From the media messages received every day, the unemployed population is increasing, the homicide cases are frequent all over the world, and individuals and families are faced with the uncertainty of life. Your safety is becoming more and more important!Fubian Chinese Church and Hornsson Houston Branch jointly held a retirement meeting. The host Lin Lu Ninghua invited Professor Wang Xiaoming from the University of Houston Campus (UHD) at the Camp on May 2021, 5 from 29 to 4 pm "Talking about Personal and Family Safety" in the first meeting room of Allen. 

Before entering the topic, Professor Wang uses an interactive method to ask everyone to express their views on "safety".Participants spoke enthusiastically. Some people said that the environment is not safe because of the repeated robbings in the community, some worried about the issue of having guns without a license, and many pointed out the threats to the spirit, finances, and family. Others said that safety is peace, as long as there is God is safe; Pastor Shi Kejian of the Chinese Church in the Western District said that safety is the peace of the whole person. 

Professor Wang believes that everyone's opinions are reasonable. From the perspective of criminology, "safety" usually means that people can normally engage in daily activities in a stable situation. Therefore, safety is absolutely related to the environment.When people are threatened by anxiety and insecurity due to the environment, they often seek help from different channels due to the need for security, including God’s love and mercy; although God puts us in an environment full of uncertainty But He allows everything that happens to work together (all things work together) for the benefit of those who love God (Romans 8:28).The occurrence of crime does make people feel physically and mentally insecure, especially those living in areas with high crime rates, but it also urges us to watch out in our lives, learn how to protect ourselves in the face of threats and uncertainties, and be brave. And live happily. 

Many people ask: "Why do people sin?" Professor Wang said that there are a lot of theories in criminology, providing different levels of explanation, but from the perspective of the Bible, sin can be traced back to the ancestors of mankind Adam and Eve, so the apostle Paul Say: "The world has sinned" (Romans 3:23), but the world is not a sinner because of sin, but sinners can sin, that is, there is a sinful nature in the heart (see Matthew 15:18) -20), "All sinners are slaves to sin" (John 8:34). Naturally, there will be no peace. Only by believing in the Lord and washing our sins through the blood of the Lord Jesus can we have a whole person Peace (Romans 5:8-11).However, Professor Wang clarified that what he is going to talk about today is crime in the law, not sin in the Bible. 

Legal crimes are often visible to the naked eye. Even if they are not witnessed, they can be learned from media reports. For example, the shooting cases mentioned at the beginning involve crimes of homicide or assault in the criminal law.Because it is visible to the naked eye, the criminal justice system can use numbers to show the frequency and trend of crime, which is the so-called "crime statistics."The most commonly used crime statistics in the United States is the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, which shows that 2020 violent crimes and 1,425,486 property crimes occurred across the United States in 10,182,584.In other words, in the past year, there were 10 crimes for every 4,124 people. If there is one victim for every crime, there will be at least 100 victims for every 4 people. No wonder many people go out, especially at night, Will feel unsafe. 

The Routine Activity Theory in criminology shows that the occurrence of crime involves the simultaneous existence of three elements, including: (1) motivated offenders, (2) suitable victims, and (3) lack of Protector of ability.The sinful nature in the hearts of the world makes people fall into the abyss of crime, so motivated criminals exist all the time; however, capable protectors, such as the police, are not by our side anytime and anywhere; therefore, we can do It is to avoid becoming a suitable victim, and the best way to avoid becoming a victim is to become a capable protector. 

How to become someone who has the ability to protect yourself and avoid becoming a victim?Criminologists summarized four principles from the research of interviewing criminals: (4) increase cognitive attempts, (1) increase cognitive risks, (2) reduce cognitive gains, and (3) remove excuses.Professor Wang used the frequently occurring Burglary as an example to illustrate that attempts to increase awareness refer to letting offenders get out of trouble. For example, a house is equipped with anti-theft doors and windows. "Eat" will shift the target to residential theft that is easy to break into. Increasing the cognitive risk also allows the offender to get out of the situation. The risk of arrest will shift the target to the less risky residential theft; reducing the cognitive gain means not to let the offender think that you are hiding money in your home, so don’t show off your wealth on weekdays and try not to reveal your wealth; remove the excuses It means not to "open the door and try to steal." The Chinese often open the garage door to ventilate the garage door in order to save electricity without turning on the air conditioner, and the theft is hired.In one instance, the police caught the thief, but the thief blamed the owner for not closing the garage door tightly, giving him the opportunity to commit a crime. 

"Open the door and try to steal" means opening the door to invite the robbers in. It is a metaphor for bringing in bad guys and causing disaster.There is a warning in the Bible. Isaiah chapter 39 records that King Hezekiah recovered from illness and the King of Babylon sent letters and gifts to congratulate him. Not only did King Hezekiah fail to witness how God healed him in front of everyone, he opened the treasure house instead. Showing off the treasures he possessed, as a result, the wolves were drawn into the house, which evoked the greedy ambitions of the King of Babylon, and later invaded Jerusalem and moved everything in the palace to Babylon, fulfilling the prophet's prediction of Judah’s fate of exile.Actual cases show that many people are robbed by gangsters, often by unwittingly revealing their possessions or belongings at home, incurring loss of life and property. 

On the whole, the crime rate in the United States is much higher than that in China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Coupled with the proliferation of guns, the Chinese must be extra careful.Get on and off the car and lock the door immediately; when you go out, if you find that your car is being followed, don't go home directly. You can drive to the police station or a nearby large supermarket for help; the lights in the porch and yard should be always on, and the flowers and trees should be trimmed. The offender hides; when you get home, pay attention to your surroundings. If you feel suspicious, you would rather go around. If the suspicious person is still there, you can ask the police for help. Finally, do a good job of staying close to each other and taking care of each other. 

The information shared by Professor Wang is very practical, and it also makes us realize that there are still very limited things that people can do, and there are too many things beyond our control.Even if we can take all measures, the result is not necessarily what we expect.Therefore, as Christians, we don’t have to be afraid of losing anything that is precious to the world, but we must be convinced of the promise of God’s blessing, bravely face all the challenges in life, and do our best to do what we should do. Leave it to God. Only by trusting Him completely can you ensure your peace.