Ol' SparkyMercy ... Not Where I'm Living
Some will say that there must be mercy for murder and mayhem, but not here, not where I'm living.
Some will say that there must be mercy for the killers of small children, but not here, not where I'm living.
Some will say that there must be mercy for the thieves who rape and pillage and destroy the futures of their innocent victims, but not here, not where I'm living.
Some will say there must be mercy for those who defraud you of your right to be happy, but not here, not where I'm living.
And some will say that, without mercy, there can be no escape from anger and remorse, that, without mercy, we remain the victims of the perpetrator of harm for the rest of our lives. Not here, not where I'm living.
Too often, I see the victims who suffer the consequences of crime turn the other cheek, and there they are, on the television screen or in the newspapers, proclaiming how they forgive the man or woman who committed some heinous act that has all but destroyed their lives. To those, whose morality preaches the "mercy of the Lord" and demands that they forgive, I say, please, no more.
Forgiveness is not a bauble you pick up in the Dollar Store and then display, like it suddenly became a sacred artefact, on the mantle of your self-righteous life. Forgiveness is never so cheap and never so easy.
In a land where mercy is the norm and forgiveness a ten second sound bite, we grow killers and criminals as readily as we grow corn in Iowa.
Sending criminals to prison is not enough. Prisons are not "correctional" institutions. Prisons are more like universities for the pursuit of learning to be a better criminal. Our misguided and soft-hearted leniency merely enables and fosters more and more crime.
No more. If the "mercy of the Lord" is so important, let's send even the pettiest criminal to the Lord to find the mercy they believe is their inalienable right.
Line them up. I'll gladly pull the switch that sends them on their way.
Some will say that there must be mercy for murder and mayhem, but not here, not where I'm living.
Some will say that there must be mercy for the killers of small children, but not here, not where I'm living.
Some will say that there must be mercy for the thieves who rape and pillage and destroy the futures of their innocent victims, but not here, not where I'm living.
Some will say there must be mercy for those who defraud you of your right to be happy, but not here, not where I'm living.
And some will say that, without mercy, there can be no escape from anger and remorse, that, without mercy, we remain the victims of the perpetrator of harm for the rest of our lives. Not here, not where I'm living.
Too often, I see the victims who suffer the consequences of crime turn the other cheek, and there they are, on the television screen or in the newspapers, proclaiming how they forgive the man or woman who committed some heinous act that has all but destroyed their lives. To those, whose morality preaches the "mercy of the Lord" and demands that they forgive, I say, please, no more.
Forgiveness is not a bauble you pick up in the Dollar Store and then display, like it suddenly became a sacred artefact, on the mantle of your self-righteous life. Forgiveness is never so cheap and never so easy.
In a land where mercy is the norm and forgiveness a ten second sound bite, we grow killers and criminals as readily as we grow corn in Iowa.
Sending criminals to prison is not enough. Prisons are not "correctional" institutions. Prisons are more like universities for the pursuit of learning to be a better criminal. Our misguided and soft-hearted leniency merely enables and fosters more and more crime.
No more. If the "mercy of the Lord" is so important, let's send even the pettiest criminal to the Lord to find the mercy they believe is their inalienable right.
Line them up. I'll gladly pull the switch that sends them on their way.
