I want them to pay for what they have done here on Earth, not just afterwards. They should be held up in front of all the world as a scourge of cruelty and heartlessness and made to pay for all the suffering they have inflicted on so many of us. I don’t know how or whether that will happen, but that is what I think is right. Then if there is a hell, they can go there after Earth. Yes, this is a strong opinion, but I think they have earned getting a taste of their own medicine. Their indifference is unforgivable, unacceptable and wrong.
Just came here to post the exact same thing. Who cares what happens to them after they're dead? They obviously don't believe what Christianity teaches. I was raised Catholic but left the church and religion around 40 years ago. Went from agnostic to atheist because this "kind" God that every religious person professes to believe in wouldn't be allowing these untold horrors. Famine, war, deliberate destruction of peoples' lives for nothing more than the color of their skin or the language they speak.
I want their punishment on earth. I want them to suffer locked up in prison for the rest of their disgusting lives in solitary confinement. They need to be punished as cruelly as they have treated others. If hell is waiting afterward, that just sweetens the punishment. These people are the epitome of evil and they need to suffer the horrors they have bestowed on the innocent.
I have a SIL who is of Brazilian descent. Born in the USA he and his sister could be stripped of their citizenship by this disgusting filth of an administration. He has a little girl. What will become of her and our daughter if they get entangled in this nightmare? I've already warned them to not speak Portuguese or Spanish to their little girl since all of us are now targets. And the so called "Christians" do nothing but turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the horrors we're witnessing with our own eyes. I curse them all. There is no room in my heart for forgiveness, or compassion, or empathy. I hate them all.
Sharon you shared my thoughts so eloquently! Thank you! I find it impossible to absorb the horror now in this country. The ICE kidnappings are violent and illegal! RFK Jr changing policies to hurt and murder large groups of our population is unforgivable! I would love to see ICE take down every member of this administration starting with the orange felon!!
Like you said of your SIL and his family, I fear for all my friends, colleagues and all who I don't know of Hispanic background. It is unconscionable what is being done to them and the fear for their lives they live with every minute of every day.
Couldn’t agree more. If there can be convened a Nuremberg-esque trial in this country then that should be appropriate for them to be held accountable for all their actions. Everyone of them. They can sit in a 4x4 cell awaiting their trial of justice.
“For man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but, when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all." - Aristotle.
Once they perish from this earth not up to me to be their judgement.. would envision they take the escalator down or wander in oblivion..
They are, in fact, being punished on this earth. Most of the Congress were raised as Christians, most of the Congress were taught about the Constitution and the Rule of Law. Some of them were probably fairly decent people before they got into politics. Given all this, I suspect that many of them realize that what they are doing is wrong. Many of them wake up in the wee small hours of the night, and face the question, “Is this really what I wanted my life to be like—I went into politics to serve the American people—is what I am now doing, thinking, saying truly service to the American people… or am I serving the desires of the wealthy who pay for my elections, whether or not it’s good for America as a whole?”
They must know that most Americans hold them in contempt, even if they hold the same political views as they do. They must know that most Americans believe that they are liars and cheaters, that they are corrupt—not just in the financial sphere but in every area of their lives. They must know that so many Americans wouldn’t welcome them into their homes, wouldn’t invite them to Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, wouldn’t want to see them at the marriages of their children, wouldn’t feel comfortable if they saw them in the congregation at their place of worship.
Now, some of them wouldn’t give a tinkers’ dam about what other people think of them. “I’m getting mine, Jack,” they think, “and you all are stupid suckers who aren’t getting yours—and I don’t care.” But some of them must feel unhappy, feel the pain of knowing how much they are despised, how they have lost the respect of the American people, how they have betrayed their desire to serve, to make this country better than they found it when they came to Washington for the first time. The final fate of all these people is not for me to say, but some,of them are hurting now, and rightly so.
I have a difference of opinion. Not that some of the Republicans don’t feel guilt for what they have, but that they have taken no action to remedy things. I think punishment is the wrong word to describe what I mean when I say that should pay for what they have done. Laws and the Constitution are in place to people keep in check but the Republicans have been complicit in both breaking the law and violating the Constitution. I believe they should be held accountable which to me means they must admit to to what they have done out loud to the people, to a jury of their peers and be charged with the laws they have broken and tenets of the Constitution they have violated. If we do not hold them accountable, we are saying it’s okay to break the law and violate the Constitution in the ways they have done. That is not right. Laws, as I said are in place for a reason, as are the tenets of the Constitution.
It is one thing to feel some pain and guilt privately but another to be publicly charged for crimes committed. Being charged with those crimes publicly is what I mean when I say that should pay for what they have done (and in some cases, not done) on Earth. Just my thoughts and feelings on the matter.
I agree that these criminals should face the legal consequences of their crimes, and I would be very happy to see them all sitting in a box in a courtroom the way the Nazi Bigwigs did at Nuremberg—and receiving the type of serious sentences that the (non-executed)Nazis did from that tribunal. Most of them did not show any remorse, and I would not expect any of our war criminals to show much either. All I would say is that some of them are not now enjoying life as much as they might appear to be.
I agree completely. I grieve just as you do. I will continue to fight the evil of this regime, just as you are. I am so grateful that God is a God of love, but scripture also tells us that God is a God of justice. By faith, I believe this to be true.
John....I love you! God loves you!!!!!! Please take a couple days off from this. I think that you need to pray, or whatever you do. I do love you. Take some time, absorb some love, take a walk, go to the gym, listen to music (or play some....) Kathy
I know what you're talking about and understand why you're saying it, but I have to throw Megyn Kelly into the mix, given her "it's not enough to drop bombs on unsuspecting people in small boats; I want them to lose limbs and suffer and bleed out, not just die right away." (Quote approximate but damned close.)
You have to wonder. And isn't she one of those who makes a big deal about being a Christian? I'm far from flawless living my faith, but the distance between what so many of these people claim and how they live...light years apart.
Thank you so much, John! There is, of course, Biblical precedent for what you have written. The imprecatory Psalms are far more graphic in requesting that those who have brought suffering on others reap what they have sown. It seems healthy to give voice to what are real feelings, appropriate to the situation, rather than pretending we are above it all. In the times those Psalms were written there were community laments that were cathartic, allowing people to express pain and loss in a public way, doing no harm to anyone, just standing in solidarity with those authentic feelings. Tuning in toward the god-awful feelings, naming them, and moving into and through them, strengthens the same muscles with which we experience joy and exhilaration and wonder at the gift of life. If we can’t do the one, it is all the more difficult to do the other. To stand at a distance as if in the stands, just watching it go by, is hardly living. To follow that metaphor, I would rather be on the field of life where the action is than sitting at a safe distance watching it all go by. At the same time I appreciate the necessity of disengaging at times to do as Kathy suggests and spend time in mindful contemplation, regaining a place to stand, time with the core of the self that lies beneath, outside the fray, the only place that is real. It is so much easier to say what I have just said than to do it. Thank you John.
This is such a painful and terrifying time to be alive. Even for someone (like me) with a bit of privelege. (I say "a bit" because, though I was born here and am perceived as "white," I am also Bi and my wife is Trans and Lesbian - three of the letters in the Queer alphabet soup.) Also (like you, John) I'm an ordained minister and, though not currently doing ministry for a living (I'm a dance teacher) I still take occasional guest preaching gigs, officiate wedding and funerals and..."Reverend stuff."
I used to hold, so tightly, to Anne Frank's heart-breaking reassurance that, "In spite of everything, people are really good at heart." But now it's so horribly obvious that they aren't. Some are. Many are. Some extraordinarily good. But the vastness of the evil on the part of those who have power today...I don't know how to inspire or reassure anyone in the midst of all that, though I still try. As, I guess, you do.
Onward in the Good Fight because we have no choice in the matter!
Yes, humans are capable of great good and great evil. We are capable of life affirming choices and life denying, destroying impulses. What leads others to the latter is a hardening of the heart, an armouring of that which is true. Only that which is true, that which is essential, will remain...even amidst devastation. My heart aches at the harm humans cause to each other and this exquisite, diverse planet.
The GOP is a bunch of hypocrites. I hope I live long enough to witness our country righted again, and loved instead of reviled by other decent, democratic and freedom-loving countries.
Your headline says it All tonight, John. I'm no judge, but Lord above😩TGIF to you and your readers, here's hoping you all have a great weekend, and will reStack ASAP 🙏
I so grieved. My husband is still one of the dumbasses who refuse to really look at what is going on in the world. And yes, he voted for the greatest dumbass of all, twice. Though, I have seen him question some of his latest decisions & actually disagree with one or two! There still is hope!!
Emanuel Swedenborg,a Swedish religious philosopher and scientist, taught that since God is all merciful he would not inflict fire and brimstone. Instead He’ll would be filled with evil people inflicting hell on one another.
I want them to pay for what they have done here on Earth, not just afterwards. They should be held up in front of all the world as a scourge of cruelty and heartlessness and made to pay for all the suffering they have inflicted on so many of us. I don’t know how or whether that will happen, but that is what I think is right. Then if there is a hell, they can go there after Earth. Yes, this is a strong opinion, but I think they have earned getting a taste of their own medicine. Their indifference is unforgivable, unacceptable and wrong.
Just came here to post the exact same thing. Who cares what happens to them after they're dead? They obviously don't believe what Christianity teaches. I was raised Catholic but left the church and religion around 40 years ago. Went from agnostic to atheist because this "kind" God that every religious person professes to believe in wouldn't be allowing these untold horrors. Famine, war, deliberate destruction of peoples' lives for nothing more than the color of their skin or the language they speak.
I want their punishment on earth. I want them to suffer locked up in prison for the rest of their disgusting lives in solitary confinement. They need to be punished as cruelly as they have treated others. If hell is waiting afterward, that just sweetens the punishment. These people are the epitome of evil and they need to suffer the horrors they have bestowed on the innocent.
I have a SIL who is of Brazilian descent. Born in the USA he and his sister could be stripped of their citizenship by this disgusting filth of an administration. He has a little girl. What will become of her and our daughter if they get entangled in this nightmare? I've already warned them to not speak Portuguese or Spanish to their little girl since all of us are now targets. And the so called "Christians" do nothing but turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the horrors we're witnessing with our own eyes. I curse them all. There is no room in my heart for forgiveness, or compassion, or empathy. I hate them all.
Sharon you shared my thoughts so eloquently! Thank you! I find it impossible to absorb the horror now in this country. The ICE kidnappings are violent and illegal! RFK Jr changing policies to hurt and murder large groups of our population is unforgivable! I would love to see ICE take down every member of this administration starting with the orange felon!!
Yes. I'm with you on every word and every sentiment you expressed here, Sharon. They should all be punished now with no way out.
Like you said of your SIL and his family, I fear for all my friends, colleagues and all who I don't know of Hispanic background. It is unconscionable what is being done to them and the fear for their lives they live with every minute of every day.
Couldn’t agree more. If there can be convened a Nuremberg-esque trial in this country then that should be appropriate for them to be held accountable for all their actions. Everyone of them. They can sit in a 4x4 cell awaiting their trial of justice.
“For man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but, when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all." - Aristotle.
Once they perish from this earth not up to me to be their judgement.. would envision they take the escalator down or wander in oblivion..
That quote of Aristotle’s expresses what’s happening to a tee.
They are, in fact, being punished on this earth. Most of the Congress were raised as Christians, most of the Congress were taught about the Constitution and the Rule of Law. Some of them were probably fairly decent people before they got into politics. Given all this, I suspect that many of them realize that what they are doing is wrong. Many of them wake up in the wee small hours of the night, and face the question, “Is this really what I wanted my life to be like—I went into politics to serve the American people—is what I am now doing, thinking, saying truly service to the American people… or am I serving the desires of the wealthy who pay for my elections, whether or not it’s good for America as a whole?”
They must know that most Americans hold them in contempt, even if they hold the same political views as they do. They must know that most Americans believe that they are liars and cheaters, that they are corrupt—not just in the financial sphere but in every area of their lives. They must know that so many Americans wouldn’t welcome them into their homes, wouldn’t invite them to Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, wouldn’t want to see them at the marriages of their children, wouldn’t feel comfortable if they saw them in the congregation at their place of worship.
Now, some of them wouldn’t give a tinkers’ dam about what other people think of them. “I’m getting mine, Jack,” they think, “and you all are stupid suckers who aren’t getting yours—and I don’t care.” But some of them must feel unhappy, feel the pain of knowing how much they are despised, how they have lost the respect of the American people, how they have betrayed their desire to serve, to make this country better than they found it when they came to Washington for the first time. The final fate of all these people is not for me to say, but some,of them are hurting now, and rightly so.
I have a difference of opinion. Not that some of the Republicans don’t feel guilt for what they have, but that they have taken no action to remedy things. I think punishment is the wrong word to describe what I mean when I say that should pay for what they have done. Laws and the Constitution are in place to people keep in check but the Republicans have been complicit in both breaking the law and violating the Constitution. I believe they should be held accountable which to me means they must admit to to what they have done out loud to the people, to a jury of their peers and be charged with the laws they have broken and tenets of the Constitution they have violated. If we do not hold them accountable, we are saying it’s okay to break the law and violate the Constitution in the ways they have done. That is not right. Laws, as I said are in place for a reason, as are the tenets of the Constitution.
It is one thing to feel some pain and guilt privately but another to be publicly charged for crimes committed. Being charged with those crimes publicly is what I mean when I say that should pay for what they have done (and in some cases, not done) on Earth. Just my thoughts and feelings on the matter.
I agree that these criminals should face the legal consequences of their crimes, and I would be very happy to see them all sitting in a box in a courtroom the way the Nazi Bigwigs did at Nuremberg—and receiving the type of serious sentences that the (non-executed)Nazis did from that tribunal. Most of them did not show any remorse, and I would not expect any of our war criminals to show much either. All I would say is that some of them are not now enjoying life as much as they might appear to be.
Thank you for that. I had to be told I'm not the only one who feels that way.
I agree completely. I grieve just as you do. I will continue to fight the evil of this regime, just as you are. I am so grateful that God is a God of love, but scripture also tells us that God is a God of justice. By faith, I believe this to be true.
John....I love you! God loves you!!!!!! Please take a couple days off from this. I think that you need to pray, or whatever you do. I do love you. Take some time, absorb some love, take a walk, go to the gym, listen to music (or play some....) Kathy
Or ... you might just support him without telling him what he needs to do.
I cannot tell how much your words resonate with my own heart and mind.
Dito
while they go to 'hell' - they will have sickly and so unnecessarily left a lot of 'hell' and 'hate' behind - 'ugh'...!
I know what you're talking about and understand why you're saying it, but I have to throw Megyn Kelly into the mix, given her "it's not enough to drop bombs on unsuspecting people in small boats; I want them to lose limbs and suffer and bleed out, not just die right away." (Quote approximate but damned close.)
This makes me so sad. What happened to these people to turn them into such hateful monsters?
You have to wonder. And isn't she one of those who makes a big deal about being a Christian? I'm far from flawless living my faith, but the distance between what so many of these people claim and how they live...light years apart.
I'm sure she has wears a cross around that thick skinned neck. Those that murdered others in the past have long professed justification as Christian.
I’m constantly amazed that these people w crosses around their necks don’t burst into flames on a regular basis!
Two words - Money & Power
Thank you so much, John! There is, of course, Biblical precedent for what you have written. The imprecatory Psalms are far more graphic in requesting that those who have brought suffering on others reap what they have sown. It seems healthy to give voice to what are real feelings, appropriate to the situation, rather than pretending we are above it all. In the times those Psalms were written there were community laments that were cathartic, allowing people to express pain and loss in a public way, doing no harm to anyone, just standing in solidarity with those authentic feelings. Tuning in toward the god-awful feelings, naming them, and moving into and through them, strengthens the same muscles with which we experience joy and exhilaration and wonder at the gift of life. If we can’t do the one, it is all the more difficult to do the other. To stand at a distance as if in the stands, just watching it go by, is hardly living. To follow that metaphor, I would rather be on the field of life where the action is than sitting at a safe distance watching it all go by. At the same time I appreciate the necessity of disengaging at times to do as Kathy suggests and spend time in mindful contemplation, regaining a place to stand, time with the core of the self that lies beneath, outside the fray, the only place that is real. It is so much easier to say what I have just said than to do it. Thank you John.
This is such a painful and terrifying time to be alive. Even for someone (like me) with a bit of privelege. (I say "a bit" because, though I was born here and am perceived as "white," I am also Bi and my wife is Trans and Lesbian - three of the letters in the Queer alphabet soup.) Also (like you, John) I'm an ordained minister and, though not currently doing ministry for a living (I'm a dance teacher) I still take occasional guest preaching gigs, officiate wedding and funerals and..."Reverend stuff."
I used to hold, so tightly, to Anne Frank's heart-breaking reassurance that, "In spite of everything, people are really good at heart." But now it's so horribly obvious that they aren't. Some are. Many are. Some extraordinarily good. But the vastness of the evil on the part of those who have power today...I don't know how to inspire or reassure anyone in the midst of all that, though I still try. As, I guess, you do.
Onward in the Good Fight because we have no choice in the matter!
Yes, humans are capable of great good and great evil. We are capable of life affirming choices and life denying, destroying impulses. What leads others to the latter is a hardening of the heart, an armouring of that which is true. Only that which is true, that which is essential, will remain...even amidst devastation. My heart aches at the harm humans cause to each other and this exquisite, diverse planet.
They have shown me how much hate I have within me. I hate them for that too! My anger brings me to tears.
Hell is on earth.
I agree; it’s day after day of horrible things they’re doing to innocent people. It seems never ending.
The GOP is a bunch of hypocrites. I hope I live long enough to witness our country righted again, and loved instead of reviled by other decent, democratic and freedom-loving countries.
Your headline says it All tonight, John. I'm no judge, but Lord above😩TGIF to you and your readers, here's hoping you all have a great weekend, and will reStack ASAP 🙏
I so grieved. My husband is still one of the dumbasses who refuse to really look at what is going on in the world. And yes, he voted for the greatest dumbass of all, twice. Though, I have seen him question some of his latest decisions & actually disagree with one or two! There still is hope!!
There still is hope!!
Emanuel Swedenborg,a Swedish religious philosopher and scientist, taught that since God is all merciful he would not inflict fire and brimstone. Instead He’ll would be filled with evil people inflicting hell on one another.
They deserve one another.