Terrorism. That’s a word that most of us didn’t associate with the United States until 9/11. However, there have been acts of terrorism all throughout history, though the terminology may not have been the same. Following WWII, President Harry S. Truman signed a series of policies that restructured our military and intelligence departments. By 1947, the CIA was formed.
On this day in 1951, an act of terrorism happened that sounds like it is right out of the current headlines. George Peter Metesky placed a pipe bomb at Grand Central Station. The explosion injured no one but it frightened the people in the station.
Known as The Mad Bomber, Metesky had worked for Con Edison, the NY electric utilities company in the early 1900s. “In 1931, Metesky was working as a generator wiper at the company’s Hell Gate generating plant when a boiler backfire produced a blast of hot gases. The blast knocked Metesky down and the fumes filled his lungs, choking him.”1 The accident left Metesky with disabilities which Con Ed refused to reimburse. Metesky was angry and his anger turned into violence. The first bomb was left in the Edison building on November 16, 1940, with a note that read, “Con Edison crooks, this is for you.”2
Bombs were placed through 1941. Some of Metesky’s conscience must have been intact because he sent a note to Con Ed telling them that he would not place any bombs throughout the duration of the war. WWII ended in 1945. He resumed bombing from 1951 until 1956. In all, “Metesky planted at least 33 bombs, of which 22 exploded, injuring 15 people.”3
Police were unable to locate Metesky until 1957 when he was found living with his sisters in Connecticut. He was put in a mental institution and released on December 13, 1973. He died in 1994 at the age of 90.
Once released from prison, he stated to a reporter, “I wrote 900 letters to the Mayor, to the Police Commissioner, to the newspapers, and I never even got a penny postcard back. Then I went to the newspapers to try to buy advertising space, but all of them turned me down. I was compelled to bring my story to the public.”4
Bringing his story to the public and setting bombs is two entirely different things! Nothing can justify doing what he did. And nothing can justify us taking matters into our own hands.
As Christians, revenge is never an option. We plead our case through the proper channels. We take our case before Almighty God. And that’s where we must leave it.
Romans 13:3-5 clearly shows that God has placed individuals in our society who are His “revengers.” “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: (4) For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. (5) Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.”
Concerning our interactions with believers, 1 Corinthians 6:1-7 asks, “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? (2) Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? (3) Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? (4) If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. (5) I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? (6) But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. (7) Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?”
Our flesh doesn’t like those verses. Why should I take the hit? Why shouldn’t I get what’s coming to me? I deserve… I’m owed… To borrow the line from a commercial, It’s my money and I want it now!
How many times have we heard a child say, “But that’s not fair!” and we’ve replied, “Life’s not fair!” We know that truth but, as adults, we often forget it.
I’m not suggesting that Metesky wasn’t owed some decency and humanity from Con Ed. I’m not suggesting that our situations don’t merit compensation or remuneration. All I’m saying is that nobody has the right to enact violence in an attempt to make things right. Instead, we act in accordance with the principles of God’s Word and the proper resolution methods afforded to us.
Psalms 37:4-7 gives us this comforting passage of hope. “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. (5) Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. (6) And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. (7) Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.”
1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Metesky
2https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-mad-bomber-strikes-in-new-york
3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Metesky
4Ibid.
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