by
Voyle A. Glover, Esq.
Images of death have surrounded us of late. Terrorists have killed us. A few years ago, a plane fell out of the sky into a corn field near my house, littering the landscape with bits and pieces of humanity. We anquished then, and as a nation, we all anquished on 9/11. And then we returned to our lives, disturbed, but putting on a brave face.
Death stalks us all. Some of us are more resistant to it than others. Some of us are more insulated from it than others. But none of us are immune to its embrace.
Some cultures believe that if one dies in battle, one will go to heaven. Iraqi soldiers were doped up in the war between Iran and Iraq, and told by the religious leaders that if they died in battle, they'd instantly be rewarded with wine, women and song. Arab terrorist groups teach young soldiers similar doctrine, giving them strong drugs so as to dull the analytical process (known as "thinking" which can cause even the devoted to "chicken out"), which drugs work effectively to keep the fear level at a minimum. Thus indoctrinated, they drive dynamite laden vehicles straight into a hellish nightmare of death and destruction--with downshifts never a consideration.
Man has been dealing death to himself since the world began. If you accept the Biblical version of beginnings, Cain murdered his brother Abel, thus earning the distinction as becoming humanity's first murderer. But even if you don't accept that, none can dispute the fact that we are eye-witness to the greatest carnage to mankind ever. Decade after decade, we witness wars, genocide, armies whose tactics and actions would delight the soul of the murderous Ghengis Ghan.
And we keep on dying. We keep on killing. We do it in the name of country, love, and sometimes attempt to align our bloody work with God.
What has made humans so immune to their humanity? From whence comes this "killer instinct?" What makes it possible for a woman to kill her own babies? How is it possible for a man who claims to love his wife, to kill her? How can men who claim to be "of God" want to murder all "infidels?" How can such men bomb innocent women and children and claim they are aligned with God?
We've become a society in which life, for some amongst us, is cheap. For those of us who feel life is precious, what do we do about the death that stalks us in the form of criminals and monsters whose view of life is akin to that of a wild beast? Do we become like them? Do we stalk them first?
I pondered this recently. I thought about the victims of a man named Coleman, that bloody monster who stalked and killed precious life here in Lake County, Indiana over a decade ago. I remembered some other beasts who'd come amongst us in days past and frightened us, indeed, terrorized us, and murdered some of us.
Frankly, I'd like to stalk them. I wish someone could hunt them down and rid the land of such monsters, for they are no longer one of us. They've become something else. But I cannot do that. I don't have that power. And, even if I had such power, I'd probably do what humanity seems to do real good: I'd screw it up. I'd probably "off" someone who was redeemable-- someone who, in time, would have contributed to humanity in some fashion. (Sigh. I'd have killed the Apostle Paul, and everyone who had a hand in the stoning of Stephen. And I'd have rescued Joseph.)
Then I considered the fact that God has declared: "Vengance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord."
It's a comfort to know God never has broken a promise.
You might call it "Payday Someday."
The End
You might enjoy the piece entitled "Evil Men"
Copyright 2006 - Voyle A. Glover
