The connotations of the word mob are certainly among the most unattractive in the human lexicon. A mob hung Jesus Christ on the cross. Lynch mobs performed some of the most ignoble deeds to which humanity has to admit. Black Friday was especially black this year because of the work of a mob in Valley Stream, Long Island.

Obsessed with acquiring items from a Wal-Mart store there, a mob formed before the store opened and, driven by intense greed, battered the door down and stormed inside with a single-minded passion admired only in the military.

On the way to the shelves, they trampled an employee to death and injured others who were in the way. It was a most pathetic and lamentable display of inhumane conduct.

After all, this wasn't warfare. It had no noble underpinnings, as the Boston Tea Party or the charge up San Juan Hill had. This was a shopping spree for Christmas presents.

Yet people were out of control. Self-gratification overwhelmed conscience and reason, and a Wal-Mart store was turned into a death trap.

This presumably was allowed to happen in the name of peace on Earth and good will toward men ... and women and children. The motivation of finding bargains for giving took a sudden and evil turn.

Realizing how callous these individuals became, we have to wonder whether any of them recapitulated their day when it was all over with the unavailing consolation that, "Oh, well, at least I got the item I wanted."

What are we telling our children, with this kind of behavior? Surely not that generosity is at the root of our way of life. Or that we should be kind and caring toward others. Or that courtesy trumps avarice.

Everyone had hoped Black Friday would be the start of a season that would signal the beginning of a turn of the tide. Spending on holiday goods might begin to pull us out of this so-far brief but painful recession. Instead, it is stained by a display of mortal greed.

Instead, what we should be telling our children is that the number of presents under the tree is not what stamps us as a loving family and nation. Our willingness to sacrifice for others is.

Why not try to harness that spirit and, instead of trampling each other to get the best and most presents, sublimate it into true giving: a donation of time or money to the Salvation Army or the Clinton County Christmas Bureau or one of many other local charities that bolster people who need help. Are we buying presents to gratify our own image with our children, or do we want to teach them what generosity is?

Christians believe the crucifixion of Christ was the dawn of a new day for humankind. That mob in Valley Stream belied it.