Perspective

Covering the story of Jorelys Rivera, the 7 year old daughter, friend and sister who was so brutally tortured and murdered in early December, I was struck by so many conflicting emotions that I feel the need to vent a little. Not privy to anything other than general public knowledge, I felt a strong engagement as I reported updates to my community; I couldn’t quite distance myself as just someone who was just reporting the news. The unfolding of this story touched my soul in such a profound manner that it is still taking me a while to organize the many thoughts and feelings I associate with it. The miasma created by the details is just taking a while to work through.

As a parent – well, honestly, I only have an inkling of the anguish Jorelys parents must have experienced. I really DON’T want to imagine their grief. Learning of a child’s death must be horrific enough, but how to live with the knowledge of such savage circumstances is beyond my comprehension. Internally, and somewhat shamefully, I shy away from trying to be empathetic; it’s just too over-powerfully painful to own.

And so, like so many people who followed this, and more probably, those who were intimately involved in the search and investigation, I resort to anger and a strong dose of fear.

True evil. Can this be anything more or less than real, true, tangible evil?

“Thou shalt not kill.” An edict not giving any wiggle room. Our justice system, however, allows for levels or degrees of depravity when it comes to killing another. I suppose that this hierarchy of death is necessary for just this sort of circumstance. Someone who kills another in self defense, or in defense of someone else certainly isn’t a harm to society as a whole and therefore, this isn’t “murder.” Murder is more deliberate. We see it on almost every Law & Order episode: determination is generally a matter of circumstances. First Degree murder is planned and plotted; Second Degree is more reactionary or a crime of emotion. Then there’s all those varying levels of manslaughter – depraved indifference, mental instability, general stupidity, and even accidental.

In most cases, there’s an accompanying and varying determination of punishment provided by our justice system. All-in-all, it’s a very good system.

But this? This again, is just beyond the scope of what our laws and its determinations can provide.

I have heard people say things about the man in custody being “sick.” There are some accounts of those in the neighborhood saying they weren’t surprised he was the one who did this crime. Did he exude some sort of creepy vibe that was not totally recognizable but just “not right”? And is “sick” a good excuse for this kind of behavior? His Facebook page reflected a disturbingly “normal” person before it was taken down, but obviously, there was just “something” else percolating beneath the surface. Do you wonder if he woke up that morning and just said to himself, “hey, let’s go find some gentle prey for entertainment today … then kill it.”?? I know psychologists can probably set a profile for this; but does a profile, syndrome or pattern of behavior, make it less heinous? Is that again a good excuse?

I have also heard the “he deserves his day in court,” or “he’ll get his day in court.” Really? I know there may be some margin of error in the evidentiary chain, but … really? And then “he’ll get his due.” What exactly IS the “due” or punishment for evil?

And then there are those who triumphantly exclaim that “God will exact his judgment.” Hmmm . And there’s where I have the most questions. As a Christian, does God punish the evil? Sure, there’s some punishment in those with any sense of morality that comes with repentance or misgivings, but does God actually punish those who are of, shall we say, Satan’s domain?

And don’t even get me started on the “we should forgive” because that’s the “Christian thing to do.” Does God forgive evil? Should we? I guess with Cain and Able, God showed mercy, but where, on the sliding scale of American justice would this one fall? Was it one of evil intent?

Is it really our duty to forgive evidence of this magnitude of dark deeds against another of God’s little children? Sure, there’s depravity, mischief and then there are even wicked deeds. But this seems some how … more. Bigger. Darker. Powerful. The perpetrator wasn’t smart enough to pull off the PERFECT crime without being caught; perhaps he is just arrogant enough to believe he wouldn’t be caught. Or just maybe, those who really seek to bring balance and justice, guided by a God who craves satisfaction, led the right people to the right spot to minimize this man’s activities. I dunno. Seems like maybe this could work as a talking point.

There are those well-meaning Christians who seem to have a somewhat skewed interpretation of “God works in mysterious ways.” I’m pretty sure there was no Godliness in this act of destruction at all. At. All. I can see God’s hand in the swift investigation that led to this man’s arrest before another child is murdered. I can see God’s hand in the way people have raised this family up to help them in this time. We can’t take away the horrible crime and the brutality of this senseless murder, but we can, as a community, share their grief and righteous anger in the loss of such a tender and beloved soul. I can believe God is in that part of this event.

Those who question God’s existence in light of this crime have a right to that line, I suppose. Can God’s hedge of protection extend to protect against true evil? We’re not just talking about smiting our enemies here. This is … yeah … different. We’re instructed that Satan seeks footholds in our lives; is he the perpetrator of this evil or are we seeing a human that is just wired to this sort of violence?

I truly believe that just as God works in the lives of those He loves, there is true evil that can also exhibit itself beyond our human depravities when it finds the right vessel. The murder of this beautiful child seems to be more than adequate evidence of this.

People tend to use the word “evil” in such an everyday way that perhaps it has lost its real meaning for us. To use the word when referring to misbehaving children, political parties whose agendas don’t fit our own, zealots who drive planes into our buildings based upon their beliefs, those who don’t attend the politically correct church, or even our neighbors who allow their dogs to dig up our azaleas … these are NOT evil. Perhaps differences in opinion need to be viewed just as that – not as an eternal struggle between light and dark forces.

This is not a struggle for my faith or my beliefs, but a true need to understand this type of evil so that perhaps I can be vigilant in seeing it around me. I’m pretty much a “rose colored glasses” sort of girl, so I continue to seek to find the appropriate balance of caution and love for my fellow man. Then maybe I can impart a bit of that to those that I love.

Perspective. Sometimes the definitions for the things we experience in life need to be refined so that we understand.