Note from Editor: The following contains graphic content that may be difficult to read.
Local Father Given Two Life Sentences
Police raided a home just outside Boston, MA in June 2017 and found 3 kids, ages 9, 10 and 14 – all bound, blindfolded and gagged in a tiny shed behind their house. Turns out they had been living there since they were small, kept alive (though barely) by their father. They were bruised, deformed, malnourished and worst of all, screaming in unrestrained fear and agony.
The nightmarish story slowly unfolded.
The father had visited the shed faithfully, took the gags and blindfolds off twice a day, just enough to shove down a few morsels of food and water. Each time, he allowed them exactly 12 minutes to go to the bathroom in a bucket.
Every 2 hours in between, someone in a mask would enter the shed, close the door, and usually do one of the following to each of the kids:
- Burn their skin with the end of a cigarette or some other device
- Break a bone somewhere on their body with a blunt object
- Beat their face with a sharp stick
- Force them to vomit by shoving various objects down their throats
- Release dozens of rats into the shed until the next visit when they would be swept out
Sometimes it would be something new and creative. Always, accompanied by an eerie silence or maniacal laughter that blended mercilessly with the muffled cries from the children.
Sometimes, the masked man would come and walk around in silence, not doing a single thing. These awful times when NOTHING happened were often more terrifying than when they DID, because they had learned to expect the worst – and the utter dread of unknown horror was often more painful than the punishment itself.
They finally caught and arrested the father after some neighbors who had just moved in next door complained to the police of an awful odor and unusual sounds in the backyard.
They learned that he had 6 kids, and the other 3 were enrolled in local schools and actually doing quite well, participating in several extracurricular activities, appearing to be unusually well-adjusted. The entire town was stunned, as the man had earned the respect of a large percentage of the population.
When questioned by police, the man calmly, confidently responded that he had simply decided at birth that it would be best for all his kids that some of them would experience a life of cruelty and pain while the others would experience a life of comfort and joy. He chose this approach, he explained, because he loved all of them immensely. He had built this shed with great care and creativity, so that the legacy he would leave as an inheritance would clearly demonstrate his wisdom and love as a father.
All this, without an ounce of remorse.
He was convicted as a sociopath, given 2 life sentences without parole, and all the children were placed in the care of a local family, who vowed to love them back to some semblance of health.
God in Our Image
The pagan god of a large segment of evangelical Christianity, with it’s confident assertion of God-ordained afterlife existence (He creates many humans that He already knows are born destined for endless, excruciating, inescapable hell torment, while others are born destined to enjoy the bliss of heaven), is Infinitely More Horrific than the awful father depicted in this *fictional* account.
Yet we give this deity a “free pass” because “God” can do whatever He wishes, so it must be ethical and good by definition. It reminds us of Pascal’s powerful statement:
“No one commits evil more completely and more cheerfully than one who does it with religious conviction.”
We often create a god in our own image when we believe he wants “us” to bask securely in the light of our own destiny while ignoring the plight of “those others” he will intentionally keep alive for billions upon billions of years – for no other purpose than to make sure they experience the worst kinds of horrific torture with absolutely no hope of repentance, relief or rescue – screaming in unrestrained fear and writhing in agony forever.
And of course, we then cite ample scriptural proof-texts to justify what a holy, righteous God MUST do to His “enemies” – in direct contradiction of how Jesus commanded us to treat them.
Please dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you. . . don’t let any portrait of God into your mind and heart that contradicts the portrait of our Beautiful Christ. God loves the whole world, and gave Himself over to horrendous death to announce that He has included ALL of us into His Divine Sanctuary, where the Three-in-Love looks upon us eternally with eyes of adoration.
Abba…
You adore ALL You have created.
Your mercy endures forever.
Your love never, ever, ever fails.
May our hearts be drenched
In the overflow of Yours.
__________________
“Good Good Father”
(Written by Pat Barrett and Tony Brown)
Oh, I’ve heard a thousand stories of what they think you’re like
But I’ve heard the tender whispers of love in the dead of night
And you tell me that you’re pleased
And that I’m never alone
You’re a Good, Good Father
It’s who you are, it’s who you are, it’s who you are
And I’m loved by you
It’s who I am, it’s who I am, it’s who I am
Oh, and I’ve seen many searching for answers far and wide
But I know we’re all searching
For answers only you provide
‘Cause you know just what we need
Before we say a word
You’re a Good, Good Father
It’s who you are, it’s who you are, it’s who you are
And I’m loved by you
It’s who I am, it’s who I am, it’s who I am
‘Cause you are perfect in all of your ways
You are perfect in all of your ways
You are perfect in all of your ways to us
Oh, it’s love so undeniable
I, I can hardly speak
Peace so unexplainable
I, I can hardly think
As you call me deeper still
As you call me deeper still
As you call me deeper still
Into love, love, love
You’re a Good, Good Father
It’s who you are, it’s who you are, it’s who you are
And I’m loved by you
It’s who I am, it’s who I am, it’s who I am