Series - Losing Our Moral Compass (Maryland Man Kills Caged Kitten)

When I grew up, my grandmother taught us to be kind to animals. If you were to ask me today, I think she loved them more than us. Either way, it sickens me to no end when I read/hear about animal cruelty.

A few weeks ago, someone shot a puppy in its own back yard. Today we read about Justin Michael Beall who admitted to killing a caged kitten.

The real outrage is that it's only a misdemeanor. Where is our humanity if that's all he's going to get?

See story at:

http://www.wusa9.com/news/article/190454/158/Md-Man-Pleads-Guilty-To-Killing-Caged-Kitten

Series - Losing Our Moral Compass (Lululemon Killer Looks for Mercy)

When I heard the pleas for mercy this morning on the TV from the family of Brittany Norwood, the woman convicted of murdering her co-worker at the Bethesda Lululemon clothing store last year, I told myself I had to blog about it.

Yes, I am an Elder in the Presbyterian Church but mercy and forgiveness do not mean the purpertrator gets to slide on the consequences of his or her actions. What Brittany did to Jayna Murray was not only brutal but vicious and wild.

Dear parents of Brittany, your daughter stabbed her 332 times. Hello? Are you just as nuts as she is?

Brittany Norwood (Credit: CBS/WJZ)

I also have a psychology degree and I support the conclusion that Brittany “is beyond rehabilitation.”[1] She needs to be put away forever so she can’t “lose it” again and mutilate someone else. When someone does something so heinous, he or she puts themselves “outside” of society and does not have the right to benefit from the safety of the society he or she just violated!

May Jayna rest in peace.

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  [1] http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57367154-504083/sentencing-looms-in-lululemon-store-murder-killer-brittany-norwoods-family-begs-for-mercy/

Series - Losing Our Moral Compass (Abandoned Baby Girl Dies)

Last week was not a good week for me. It did not compare to the tragedy reported on TV and in newspapers about an infant girl left on a doorstep in Northeast Washington in freezing temperatures whose short life was over even before it started. The reports varied on the infant’s age, some saying newborn, others saying a week, and a few saying a month old.

It takes a lot to make me cry. And this was the straw that broke the infamous camel’s back. My family life was always a challenge, and there were and are still times when I feel I wasn’t wanted. Yet, I can’t say they ever abandoned me or tried to give me away.

Maybe the mother thought someone would open the door quickly and find the child. If so, she thought wrong. Maybe someone else interfered and hoped to find a better home. It strikes me as odd that the baby was left at someone’s home instead of a hospital or police station.  This may be one time we can’t walk in someone else’s shoes.

My heart aches for the panic felt by the man who found her and whose father tried to revive her. They are still heroes in my book for trying.

The only comfort I take from this is that the child is with God. May He bless her and keep her in His loving embrace.