11-19-2021, 12:20 PM
So, this kind of spite is being vented more often these days. When you and I share the truth about the evil of our government officials and their intentions, they want to humiliate us. It has nothing to do with truth; they are determined to rub our faces in it. They are determined that we shall confess the damned lies of their pagan idols. That's what it's all about -- the prosecution of Kyle Rittenhouse, the January 6 protests at the Capitol, etc. They have plans to push it farther and farther.
If you get all bent out of shape about the humiliation factor, you'll miss the point. That's what they imagine they want, but it offers no kind of joy, nothing to fill the ravening hunger in their souls. It only deadens them further. It makes them even more the child of Hell. It is their greatest weakness.
It is also quintessentially American. Our penal system has always been punitive, not recompensatory as Scripture requires. It was designed to play to the vindictive arrogance of the broader population. "You owe me!" It's the attitude of usurping God's throne of judgement. The Law of Moses was always about how you have offended God, first and foremost, and your duty to repay your brother was only secondary. God always set limits on what you repaid to your brother.
People who have been through the American prison system understand quite clearly: The only real defense against the vindictive spite is to act like it just does not matter. You can't be bothered to stir up any emotion over it. When they get what they want, they still have nothing. Don't expect the average American to understand that. Expect instead a reactionary humiliation back at those who provoke things. This is part of why we try to stay out of the way of these things.
There will be a backlash. It will be bloody, and too often, poorly targeted. It will make those leading the backlash no better than those who provoked them. There is no such thing as "human dignity." There is only repentance and redemption.
If you get all bent out of shape about the humiliation factor, you'll miss the point. That's what they imagine they want, but it offers no kind of joy, nothing to fill the ravening hunger in their souls. It only deadens them further. It makes them even more the child of Hell. It is their greatest weakness.
It is also quintessentially American. Our penal system has always been punitive, not recompensatory as Scripture requires. It was designed to play to the vindictive arrogance of the broader population. "You owe me!" It's the attitude of usurping God's throne of judgement. The Law of Moses was always about how you have offended God, first and foremost, and your duty to repay your brother was only secondary. God always set limits on what you repaid to your brother.
People who have been through the American prison system understand quite clearly: The only real defense against the vindictive spite is to act like it just does not matter. You can't be bothered to stir up any emotion over it. When they get what they want, they still have nothing. Don't expect the average American to understand that. Expect instead a reactionary humiliation back at those who provoke things. This is part of why we try to stay out of the way of these things.
There will be a backlash. It will be bloody, and too often, poorly targeted. It will make those leading the backlash no better than those who provoked them. There is no such thing as "human dignity." There is only repentance and redemption.
