Guest inoubliable Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 compassion for the hostage taker in Alabama?? Most everyone I ran into yesterday, IRL or online, was screaming for the guy's head. Even though he was dead already... I know it's an emotionally charged event and discussion, but why all the absolute hate? Why the calling for violent deaths? Why the pleasure in the man being killed? I'm not saying that he didn't do some very wrong things. Illegal things. Socially unacceptable things. Horrible, traumatic things. I'm not saying that there shouldn't have been justice. Not at all. The bus driver deserves justice. The little boy deserves justice. I absolutely agree with this. I am angry about what he did, yes. I can't help but think, though, that this guy obviously had some mental issues. And then I think to myself "this is what happens when people fall through the crack". I guess I'm just surprised that more people aren't upset over whatever it was that pushed this guy over the edge. No one seems to be asking those questions or calling for social reforms that get people like Dykes the help they need. I feel like most everyone is having a knee-jerk reaction to a little kid being taken and held hostage, and not seeing that there is a bigger picture here. A few people have questioned about a mental disease but in a oh-by-the-way curiosity type of way. *sigh* I had to get that out. Flame away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 It's not just you. I read this morning that the little boy's mother asked the police not to kill Dykes because he was sick. I feel like I've seen a lot online that addresses his past and the fact that he was mentally unwell. I also feel many have been asking questions and wanting more reform for the mentally ill. At least, I've seen and heard that in my circles, especially since the Newtown shooting. I actually don't know anyone in real life who said they were glad Dykes was dead or anything else that harsh. I've only seen that online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter's Moon Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 No flames from me. I was sickened when people were in the street dancing and singing when Osama bin Laden was killed. No one could understand that I wasn't upset that an evil man was no longer alive, but the fact that he had to be killed in the first place. That he was so mentally unstable that he thought what he did was good. I really got flamed for that one. It is sickening how bloodthirsty people are. Evil or not, that person was one of us, a human. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 No flames here. I feel a certain amount of compassion for the perpetrator in any situation like that. Obviously there's some sort of mental illness involved, and the person didn't get the help he/she needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest inoubliable Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Maybe it's because my town is so conservative then. I was out with the realtor yesterday and we just kept hearing it over and over. In the post office before I met the realtor, in the street as I walked in to the mortgage guy's office, out of the mouth of a neighbor at one of the houses. And then online! Eek! Some of the things being said! It just seemed over the top and cruel, to be honest. I hadn't read about the little boy's mother making that request. I hope that family can find peace soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Yes, as one who had a mentally ill family member, I had the same thought. You want them in a place where they can't hurt anyone anymore, and yet you feel sad for the torment they suffered themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I often feel this way about situations like this. Most people who get to this point have suffered greatly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butterflymommy Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Every so often I do feel sympathy for a criminal-- I don't feel it in this case. But it's pretty normal to occasionally feel sympathy for someone who probably does not deserve it. It may be because he or she reminds you of someone in your life or had some small similarity to yourself. There was a really horrific child abduction and murder case some years ago and I remember finding myself feeling really bad for the perpetrator. I didn't want to feel that sympathy, believe me, but I did for some reason. So everyone will have their own reaction to these tragic news stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Well, I did feel some sympathy but I was so absolutely scared for that child that it was hard to focus on the man. I was guessing the man would snap and go ahead and harm the child. Being a mom myself, and especially with a child on the spectrum, I was simply horrified for that family. I'm still worried about that family. It's just not something that's going to go away easily. Do I think the man deserved to die? No, I believe that there are some people who can benefit from medical attention and he might have been one. But I do feel the authorities made the best decision they could in the moment with the information they had. I feel that as much time as went by, they gave it a good go to try to resolve it all peacefully. The man forced their hand, unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillfarm Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 To be honest, I am one of the most hard hearted, militaristic women I know. I shoot guns, shoot arrows, and take classes to learn how to use my bare hands to kill someone in self defense, if need be. And yet I had the same reaction. Although I do think that sometimes people are so unable to live in society and make such bad choices that are so incredibly harmful to others, that they must be stopped - permanently if necessary. But I believe that every.single.one of us is a child of God and that this man is loved by Him just as much as I am. I'm not saying that it was wrong that he was killed, I am saying that I was shocked at how many people seemed to glory in that fact. "glad they got the SOB!", "Let him rot", "Glad he got what was coming to him". Wow. This from women who would probably condemn me for my lifestyle. Gave me a lot to think about. There is no glory in the fact that some woman's sick son grew up to break her heart by doing unspeakable acts of violence to others. That man was once a little boy who played with toy cars and built forts in the dirt. I think that by choice I live in kind of a violent culture, with all the shooting and martial arts stuff. But my humanity is still intact. May the Lord have mercy on his soul. I recognize that it had to be done, but that fact truly saddens me. No shouting for joy or fist pumps in the air here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest inoubliable Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Glad I'm not the only one. Whew! I'm not saying that anyone did wrong in taking him out. I wasn't there. I don't have the training and experience that the people who were in charge have. I think they did the best thing that they could in that situation. I just couldn't understand the angry and cruel and violent reactions from some people regarding the hostage taker. It just seemed so obvious that the man was sick! He needed help, you know?? And what about HIS family? The horror they must be going through. Not trying to marginalize the tragedy from the little boy's or his family's stand point, but I see multiple victims of this guy's mental disease. I just cannot do a happy dance for the death of this guy. And I'm completely taken aback at others jumping for joy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nd293 Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 You're brave to post this - I've often thought it. I'm not very compassionate by nature, but cases like this, or mass shooting or pretty much anything where people spew unmitigated hatred for the perpetrator really get to me. Surely such people are broken from the inside, and cannot be held fully responsible, or are broken from the outside, by family or society or circumstances and deserve at the least some compassion? This bothers me more and more as I get older - the world just makes me sad, so many broken lives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I'm glad that the standoff is over, but I do feel sorry that it ended with the kidnapper's death rather than his surrender or capture. As a Christian, I always regret when people don't get a chance to repent for their sins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I feel the same way. I don't understand the hate and calling for his death either. It's all so sad and I was very sorry to hear they couldn't capture him alive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Maybe it's because my town is so conservative then. I was out with the realtor yesterday and we just kept hearing it over and over. In the post office before I met the realtor, in the street as I walked in to the mortgage guy's office, out of the mouth of a neighbor at one of the houses. And then online! Eek! Some of the things being said! It just seemed over the top and cruel, to be honest. I hadn't read about the little boy's mother making that request. I hope that family can find peace soon. Erm, I'm conservative and so are most around me and no one I know was happy the guy was dead. All these shooters? Mentally ill. How bout we do something about it if we feel so bad for them? It's not a conservative/liberal thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I just felt that it was sad to see a life wasted. But I was glad that law enforcement / courts won't have to figure out what to do with this guy who murdered a bus driver in cold blood, yet spared this little boy (though we don't know if he would have spared him forever given the chance). It sounded to me like the man was mostly gone anyway, IYKWIM. He won't suffer any more from whatever was making him so miserable. Though you can't really believe what you hear from the media, if Sandy Hook is any indication. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I feel the same way. Even if you have no sympathy for the mentally ill, the bloodthirsty attitude I am seeing IRL and on FB makes me worry about the human race in general. "Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?" -Ezekiel 18:23 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca VA Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I was sympathetic to him until I read that he once beat a dog to death with an iron pipe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest inoubliable Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Erm, I'm conservative and so are most around me and no one I know was happy the guy was dead. All these shooters? Mentally ill. How bout we do something about it if we feel so bad for them? It's not a conservative/liberal thing. I didn't mean for it to sound like I meant *all* conservatives were doing the happy dance. I was just throwing out an idea. I'm not sure why so many people in my town were reacting the way they were, honestly. "Conservative" was simply the first thing that came to mine in describing my town and the people in it. Could be because we're rural? Could be because we're a small town? I don't know. It's not like we've had a similar incident here and people are battle scarred. I certainly don't want to put a conservative/liberal label on any of this. I don't think that has anything to do with the matter. As far as doing something about the situation, I'm not sure what TO do. Other than starting talking about it. Get more people talking. Talk so much that the people who make the decisions about mental health care hear it. I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest inoubliable Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I was sympathetic to him until I read that he once beat a dog to death with an iron pipe. Wouldn't that be a clear signal that he needed help, though?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Wouldn't that be a clear signal that he needed help, though?? How do we force someone to get help that doesn't want it? How do we determine who is so bad that there should be an intervention against their will? Who gets to determine the criteria? I know many people who want more help for the mentally ill, but there are big problems in getting help for those who don't feel they have a problem or who don't want help. It seems they aren't forced until they hurt someone. I honestly don't know how to change that. This guy seemed to question and dislike most authority so I don't think just offering him services would have done much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMamaBird Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I have mixed emotions. Part of me feels like there is no extreme we shouldn't go to in order to protect the innocent, and if that includes killing a seriously disturbed individual who has no respect for human life (or any life for that matter) then I'm not going to lose sleep about it. On the other hand though, there's a part of me that thinks about the little boy this monster once was and wonders what must have happened to him to change him into who he was. I have compassion for that little boy and who he could have become. I fully acknowledge that he was responsible for the choices he made and the actions he chose to make. Still, I do feel a weird sadness about the man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca VA Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 To me, it shows that he was beyond redemption. I can almost understand being frustrated with one's fellow man (not to the point of killing or taking hostages, but just being frustrated). He might have been damaged by other people at some point in his life. I know that he was isolated, that his family had given up on him, and he might have just snapped. He might have seen his victims as stand-ins for the people who hurt him in years past. But to kill an innocent dog...slowly beating him to death...is beyond cruel. It's not a quick gunshot to the head. It involves standing over a dog, dominating him, listening to his cries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 compassion for the hostage taker in Alabama?? Most everyone I ran into yesterday, IRL or online, was screaming for the guy's head. Even though he was dead already... I know it's an emotionally charged event and discussion, but why all the absolute hate? Why the calling for violent deaths? Why the pleasure in the man being killed? I'm not saying that he didn't do some very wrong things. Illegal things. Socially unacceptable things. Horrible, traumatic things. I'm not saying that there shouldn't have been justice. Not at all. The bus driver deserves justice. The little boy deserves justice. I absolutely agree with this. I am angry about what he did, yes. I can't help but think, though, that this guy obviously had some mental issues. And then I think to myself "this is what happens when people fall through the crack". I guess I'm just surprised that more people aren't upset over whatever it was that pushed this guy over the edge. No one seems to be asking those questions or calling for social reforms that get people like Dykes the help they need. I feel like most everyone is having a knee-jerk reaction to a little kid being taken and held hostage, and not seeing that there is a bigger picture here. A few people have questioned about a mental disease but in a oh-by-the-way curiosity type of way. *sigh* I had to get that out. Flame away. No, you are not alone. I'm always so upset by the bloodthirsty aspect of human nature that comes out to play when something like this happens. Of course I'm horrified at the thought of what the little boy endured. I'm grateful he's safe, and I'm overjoyed for his family. But that doesn't mean I have to feel any less compassion for the person so overwrought or damaged by whatever life he had endured that he decided this action was a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 No one seems to be asking those questions or calling for social reforms that get people like Dykes the help they need. I feel like most everyone is having a knee-jerk reaction to a little kid being taken and held hostage, and not seeing that there is a bigger picture here. A few people have questioned about a mental disease but in a oh-by-the-way curiosity type of way. I think one could just as easily make the argument that a vague call for more social reforms (e.g., "we have to do something—anything!") is a knee-jerk reaction to freak incidents like these that are still relatively rare. How do you know that people didn't try to help him before he reached this crisis point? I do not rejoice in others' deaths, this man's included. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I feel compassion for all mentally ill people but since we don't know if he had access to mental health care or not, it is hard to know what his situation was. Many people with mental illness choose to stop medications or stop therapy for various reasons. They make the decisions that inevitably bring on their own demise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Every so often I do feel sympathy for a criminal-- I don't feel it in this case. But it's pretty normal to occasionally feel sympathy for someone who probably does not deserve it. It may be because he or she reminds you of someone in your life or had some small similarity to yourself. There was a really horrific child abduction and murder case some years ago and I remember finding myself feeling really bad for the perpetrator. I didn't want to feel that sympathy, believe me, but I did for some reason. So everyone will have their own reaction to these tragic news stories. I think where we differ is that I believe every human being does "deserve" our sympathy. I cannot imagine believing it is wrong to feel compassion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 While I feel sympathy toward the mentally ill, it also makes me ill to think what kind of recovery this child will now have. I haven't read anything too in depth, but I'm reminded of the Steven Stayner kidnapping. His brother turned out to be a serial killer, and you have to wonder how much affect his brother's kidnapping had on his stability. So because of one kidnapping so many lives are ruined. Ds and I recently discussed some of these issues. We're currently reading The Iliad and are on the part where Achilleus is in a blind rage avenging the death of Patroklos. Ds and I have been talking about why Patroklos was so special. Men were dying all around them in a war that has been running for 9 years, why this person. Literary device? Were the other men not so special? I'm not a violent person, but I would seek the ends of the earth if someone hurt my child on purpose. I don't know how that would play out in reality and don't care to find out, but blind avenging rage doesn't seem so far fetched. I've purposely avoided most of this current story as it does trip some emotional triggers for me, but I couldn't be a police officer in that situation. You have to make the choice to kill a person? In this case, it sounds like they had little choice. Life is rough, we need more help for the mentally ill. I've felt sympathy for offenders before, but in this case my sympathy lies with the boy, his family, and the hard, long road to recovery they face. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest inoubliable Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 How do we force someone to get help that doesn't want it? How do we determine who is so bad that there should be an intervention against their will? Who gets to determine the criteria? I know many people who want more help for the mentally ill, but there are big problems in getting help for those who don't feel they have a problem or who don't want help. It seems they aren't forced until they hurt someone. I honestly don't know how to change that. This guy seemed to question and dislike most authority so I don't think just offering him services would have done much. I know. :( I don't want help to be forced on anyone, either. People need to be able to make their own decisions on that. And face consequences for the actions they take. It's a very muddy situation, isn't it? I certainly don't have the answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 To me, it shows that he was beyond redemption. No one is "beyond" redemption... well, until they are dead. So I suppose he is beyond redemption NOW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca VA Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 The Bible says that the Holy Spirit does give up on striving to redeem some people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izzy Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 No flames here. The rot in hell remarks make me flinch. Don't get me wrong, I think they should have done whatever necessary to save this boy and if that meant killing the man then so be it. It just makes me sad that this man didn't get the mental help he needed. It's much more effective to treat the mentally ill then to deal with the aftermath of untreated mental illness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 The Bible says that the Holy Spirit does give up on striving to redeem some people. But wouldn't that be for the Holy Spirit to decide? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danestress Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I guess I'm just surprised that more people aren't upset over whatever it was that pushed this guy over the edge. No one seems to be asking those questions or calling for social reforms that get people like Dykes the help they need. I feel like most everyone is having a knee-jerk reaction to a little kid being taken and held hostage, and not seeing that there is a bigger picture here. A few people have questioned about a mental disease but in a oh-by-the-way curiosity type of way. The problems of the mentally ill are complex and difficult to solve. Our country has had *decades* of discussions about how to handle the mentally ill - is it better to institutionalize, better to try to integrate into society, what is the trade off between independent decisions and insisting on help? We will never ever solve all these problems. There will always be people who exercise their free will in a way that damages themselves and others. Of course this conversation continues. I'm not sure it needs to continue on your facebook page or CNN. Everyone has opinions, but I don't particularly need to hear the blah blah blah by all my friends on Facebook, lol. There are many people who have spent their entire careers trying to help the mentally ill. The truth is, mental health providers and lawmakers are regularly engaged in these discussions. We can't always fix problems like this man's problem. Even if we tied him up and forced appropriate drugs, we would not necessarily cure him of his problem. If you do community mental health work, you know that every community has it's really tough cases. On the other hand, we COULD fix the boys' problem, and we did. Yes, I feel compassion for the old man and his family, for the bus driver, for every child who witnessed that horror, for all the people who may have loved him and begged him to get help, for the neighbors he terrorized and the dog he beat to death, and for his doctors who may have felt like they failed him but did the best they could. It's really sad. Many people have suffered because of this man's issues, and he certainly suffered too. But I don't think it is particularly sad that this boy was saved, even if it meant Mr. Sykes died. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 No one is "beyond" redemption... well, until they are dead. So I suppose he is beyond redemption NOW. Well, I don't know about that either. God knows how sick this man was and whether or not he had the mens rea to commit a murder vs. be innocent by reason of insanity. If a person is insane when he murders and continuously until he dies, does he need to repent in order to be forgiven? Personally I don't feel called to judge another human being at that level. That's way beyond my pay grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 The whole reason that the mentally ill cannot be sentenced with death is because they are unable to give a full and honest confession to cleanse their souls before death. It was something that the RC church brought about. This man died in a horrible way, without any sort of confession, absolution...it's sad. I am happy that the child is free, the cops did what they had to do and they tried, I'm sure they tried. But how do we prevent the mental breakdown? We may not be able to. The next question is how to we protect people from the severely mentally ill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Maybe it's because my town is so conservative then. . uh, no. (uneducated, maybe) I'm very conservative - and I took no joy in the guy being dead. (I still don't know from whose gun the bullet came.) I had prayed for a peaceful resolution - the little boy's safety being first. the guy was obviously mentally ill. I'd like to see some serious revamping of how the mentally ill are treated and the resources available to help them. eta: I would like to see more respect for those with mental illness and physical disabilities (I see mockery and scorn from both sides of the political spectrum) - they are some of "the least of these" and should not be treated as dregs to "be tolerated". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest inoubliable Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 The Bible says that the Holy Spirit does give up on striving to redeem some people. Not everyone, and certainly not this country as a whole, subscribes to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 EVERYONE is happy the child is safe. No question. Not everyone is happy that the kidnapper was killed, though. I don't have the answers to the mentally ill conundrum. But I cannot abide the "blow his brains out!" and "I hope the b@stard suffered!" and "I would shoot him in the head myself!" comments I have read. The violence in people scares me. “The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy, instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.†Martin Luther King, Jr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindy in FL. Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I have a hard time not seeing at least a vestige of humanity in everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I can understand the feeling (of frustrated anger) if one does not believe this man to be mentally ill. Personally I can't imagine a sane human doing what he did for the reasons he allegedly did it. However, I don't know the whole story. Some folks might believe he was sane when he gunned down a bus driver in front of a bunch of children (which I personally consider a greater crime than the kidnapping). Only God knows IMO. Some people may also have assumed this guy kidnapped the child in order to sodomize him. That kind of thought doesn't exactly bring out the best in people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Well, I don't know about that either. God knows how sick this man was and whether or not he had the mens rea to commit a murder vs. be innocent by reason of insanity. If a person is insane when he murders and continuously until he dies, does he need to repent in order to be forgiven? Personally I don't feel called to judge another human being at that level. That's way beyond my pay grade. I agree. God knows what was going on in his head, and what his capacity (or lack thereof) for rationality was. our test is how we treat those who don't meet "social norms". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Maybe it's because my town is so conservative then. Compassion is not a conservative or liberal trait or value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest inoubliable Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Compassion is not a conservative or liberal trait or value. Didn't say that. I clarified what I meant upthread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Wouldn't that be a clear signal that he needed help, though?? It could just as easily been a signal that he was an nasty bullying SOB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 No one is "beyond" redemption... well, until they are dead. So I suppose he is beyond redemption NOW. I agree with the first part... No one is beyond redemption, but I think even after death, you can be redeemed...that is what purgatory is for... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nono Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Yeah, I'm relieved he's dead. I'm glad the community, parents and child who suffered can begin to heal without having the trauma of a long, protracted trial ahead of them. They've suffered enough over the last week or so for a lifetime. That doesn't make me blood thirsty. It makes me practical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susann Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Maybe it's because my town is so conservative then. I was out with the realtor yesterday and we just kept hearing it over and over. In the post office before I met the realtor, in the street as I walked in to the mortgage guy's office, out of the mouth of a neighbor at one of the houses. And then online! Eek! Some of the things being said! It just seemed over the top and cruel, to be honest. I hadn't read about the little boy's mother making that request. I hope that family can find peace soon. I'm conservative and so are several of my friends. The general feeling in this group is sorrow for the situation and compassion for all involved. I don't see how being liberal or conservative would play into this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 EVERYONE is happy the child is safe. No question. Not everyone is happy that the kidnapper was killed, though. I don't have the answers to the mentally ill conundrum. But I cannot abide the "blow his brains out!" and "I hope the b@stard suffered!" and "I would shoot him in the head myself!" comments I have read. I had the same icky feeling about many of the comments in my Facebook feed after Bin Laden was killed. I was not a bit sorry that he was dead (which is also true in this case) but some of the comments were just disturbing ("I wish I could dip my toast in his blood and dance on his grave"). Another person unfriended me because I questioned on my own wall whether all the blood-thirsty responses were really necessary. What was even more aggravating were the comments implying that doing so was the equivalent of defending Bin Laden's actions and supporting terrorism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest inoubliable Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I'm conservative and so are several of my friends. The general feeling in this group is sorrow for the situation and compassion for all involved. I don't see how being liberal or conservative would play into this. *bigsigh* It doesn't come into play. I've already explained what I meant. Feel free to read the entire thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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