By your assumed logic, no one should really stop to help if they see an accident. You could replace anything with "kids being taken to school" and equate it to something that's important enough to pass up a crash or any other occurrence similar to it (which is what the importance of my article was. The men didn't think it important enough to stop and help even when it was clear there was a problem. In the crash, it doesn't matter if you can see the problem or not. You should still check it out if no one already has.) In all truth, people should stop to help
unless nobody already has (and this is for good reason that I'll explain later). Do you actually remember the story of "The Good Samaritan?" Let me refresh everyone for those who don't.
Quote:
A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite (a person from the clan of Levi which has special religious significance), when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins[ and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.
Obviously, this story is important to understanding the laws, but also the situations where this law comes into play. What is the point of this story? A man is placed in a predicament where is life is in danger. Along the way comes a priest, but he refuses to help. Presumably, this is a Jewish priest who understands helping others in need such as this situation. Also, his religious duty should have prompted him to help, yet he did not. The same is true for the Levite. The Levite is similar to a priest as it was the clan of Levi who performed the religious duties for the Jewish people. He, too, does not help. Finally, a Samaritan comes along and helps the man out of pity. Why pity? Of all the people that should of helped the man, the Samaritan is the least likeliest. The Samaritans were Jews who had racially mixed with people of other races than their own Jewish people (which was considered a big NO-NO by the Jews in the sight of God (since the Jews were God's chosen people, set aside from all other peoples)). The Jews hated the Samaritans and wouldn't associate with them and the same was true likewise. Yet, even with this in mind, the Samaritan helped the man anyway, made sure he got better, and even payed his expenses for shelter and care.
The point of the laws has to do with acting to take care of or save another. They protect the person doing the actions. Otherwise, people could potentially get sued for trying to help and nobody would want to act and try to save others. Their are many other signifiances to the story besides just helping others. It's about the people who help and the people who don't. The ones that should be helping aren't and just leaving the man when clearly he is in need. Also note that there is no reason given for why the men pass by, just that they do.
Why bring this up? Because, trekkie, if I was in a crash, I would hope just one person would stop to make sure I'm ok and not just pass by me. I'm going to assume you'd feel the same way, too. Sure, I understand people have their stuff to do, but does that mean we have no reason to just stop. School is school. Taking a minute or two to make sure someone is ok is a much better thing to do if no one has already. As I mentioned before, if someone has already dealt with the situation, that's one thing. But if no one has, you should feel obligated to do so. Even if I was a parent, or even if I was going to become a CEO that day and couldn't miss that day, I would probably stop and help the crash victim first. I'm sure most people wouldn't have a problem with helping others in need.
)
