A dream
yagr
Veteran
I had a dream last night. I don't often remember my dreams, but this one was particularly vivid and I wanted to share it. It was based loosely on a movie I had seen last month called 'The Inside Man', a 2006 American film starring Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster.
The main plot of the movie was a bank robbery in which the robbers entered in painters' clothes and took everyone hostage. They made everyone strip and don painters' clothes identical to the robbers. After separating the hostages into groups held in different rooms, they rotated the hostages between rooms covertly inserting themselves into the groups as hostages so they would later be identified by other hostages as 'one of them'. Eventually the hostages and robbers were 'released' and exited the bank wearing identical outfits and despite extensive interrogation, the police were unable to distinguish between hostages and hostage takers and all had to be released. The bank robbers had set in motion a plan to retrieve valuables at a later date so none had valuables on them and nothing was missing.
My dream was true to the movie in most regards with two notable exceptions. First, it was not a movie but happening in real time. Second, everyone who exited the bank was held by police and after police failed to distinguish who was a victim and who was a hostage taker, they held them all and refused to release any of them. Of course the scene was covered by all the major news networks and when it was announced that the police were steadfastly refusing to let anyone go - ever, the world reacted in outrage.
Days passed, outrage reached fever pitch. The civilized world was united in demanding that the innocents be released. Blackstone's principle was invoked as the world condemned the police's decision to keep them all in custody. Then, suddenly, the great reveal. The police department and owner of the bank came forward and admitted that they were working together. The hostages along with their families who had been calling for their release, as well as the hostage takers were brought forward in front of the cameras and were acknowledged as volunteer actors. And then the question was asked. How is this any different than the treatment of Syrian refugees because terrorists might be among their numbers?
Comments
Interesting dream @yagr .....
Perhaps your dream was just a way of weighing up the doubt that often arises in situations such as the refugee crises and the recent terror attacks in Paris...
Giving people the Benefit of the doubt is I feel part and parcel of a sane and humane society's response...