Posted on 09/24/2015 12:57:07 PM PDT by Kaslin
ON THE JEWISH calendar, Wednesday is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It marks the culmination of the Days of Awe, the solemn period of introspection that began 10 days ago on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Like many Jews, I have been thinking about the themes of this season — repentance and forgiveness, wrongdoing and reconciliation.
I have also been thinking about Johnny Depp.
More precisely, I've been thinking about some things Depp said at the Boston premiere of "Black Mass," the new film in which he plays the gangster James "Whitey" Bulger. Speaking to reporters before the screening at the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline — on the afternoon of Rosh Hashanah, coincidentally — Depp was at pains to emphasize the human qualities of the serial killer he portrays in the film.
"There's a kind heart in there," he said. "There's a cold heart in there. There's a man who loves. There's a man who cries. There's a lot to the man."
Bulger was convicted in 2013 of involvement in at least 11 murders and numerous other crimes; he is now in federal prison serving two life sentences. But Depp said his priority as an actor "was to understand him first and foremost as a human being." He described Bulger as "a man of honor" toward those he loved, and rejected the notion that he was innately wicked. "Everybody, especially the families of his victims, could say: 'He's just an evil person.' I don't believe that exists," Depp said. "People have their humanity.... There's a side of James Bulger who is not just that man who was in that business."
Depp's comments understandably offended many, especially those whose loved ones suffered from Bulger's brutality. To be sure, the Hollywood star was talking about his technique as an actor and his approach to the role of a notorious monster. Perhaps some of his remarks should have been saved for an acting class rather than the red carpet. Perhaps some — like how he was "kind of glad" that Bulger had evaded capture for so many years — shouldn't have been said at all.
Nevertheless, Depp is right: Bulger must not be seen as wholly evil, devoid of any grain of goodness. That is a crucial moral point, regardless of acting style and character preparation. "Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins," declares Ecclesiastes. The opposite is equally true: No one is absolutely evil, incapable of behaving with kindness or decency. Not Whitey Bulger. Not Charles Manson. Not Jeffrey Dahmer. Not the worst murderer or rapist or torturer.
Not even Hitler or Stalin or Pol Pot.
To insist that even the most depraved criminals are human beings is not to downplay their depravity or to minimize their evil deeds. On the contrary: It is to affirm their responsibility for the damage they wreak and the pain they inflict. It is to underscore that they are morally responsible agents endowed by God with free will. They decide how to use that freedom. And they, like all of us, are answerable for their decisions.
Men and women are not cancer cells or rattlesnakes or tidal waves, killing and destroying willy-nilly. We are not robots, programmed genetically to be good or bad, honest or crooked, kind or cruel. We choose. And our choices have consequences.
Bulger wasn't hard-wired to lie or steal and murder. Every time he did so, he chose to do so. For proof, look no farther than all the times he could have lied or stolen or murdered, but elected not to.
"We must believe in free will; we have no choice,"exclaimed the novelist Isaac Bashevis Singer. In that seeming paradox lies the essence of our humanity. It isn't DNA or economics or the stars that determines character. We determine it. Without freedom, there could be no saints or sinners, only automatons.
Bulger was no automaton. None of us is. We are born neither righteous nor monstrous, but free to be either one. Among all the Earth's creatures, only we have the power to act differently tomorrow than we acted yesterday. That is why we can always aspire to be better, and repent when we have been worse.
Thanks.
Maybe it was the CIA’s LSD experiments that he was part of in the 50’s that did it?
That doesn't excuse their behavior. German soldiers during WWII who murdered mothers and infants or helped with the executions do not get a free pass because they were following orders.
Everybody has vices or some urges that aren't healthy. But we must all fight them. Giving in to an urge because it's "natural" is no excuse.
There's nothing as damaging as robbing your kid the discipline he/she has worked so hard to earn and deserve:
Proverbs
13:24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
22:15 Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
23:13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
23:14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.
29:17 Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.
Spanking with your hand is probably not a good idea. Nrither is mocking, ridiculing, or shaming him/her with the rod of your mouth. Rather, you need to use a rod of a size fit for the child.s age: for the baby, a soda straw; for the toddler through preschool, a segment clipped from the straight bar of a plastic hanger; for grade school, a sturdy ruler; after that, a willow rod. All should be applied to the seat of learning, the gluteus maximus. And the correction should be applied up to, but not beyond the point where the child ceases to resist and becomes compliant.
When one has come into some sort of reasoning relationship with God the Father, He disciplines through the Word, through the local church, and through social/psychological situations. But if one is not disciplined of God when it is clearly appropriate, that person had better examine himself to see if he be of The Faith, or only deluded as to his salvation.
Heb 12:6-11 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Modern psychology and its rejection of correctly executed corporal punishment does nothing but create more self-serving, incorrigible social warts and criminals, not redeemable by the schools, evangelists, or prison/welfare systems, from what I've seen.
In my own case, I was not chastened enough as a child and youth. Avoiding the confrontations with the razor strap may have salved my Dad's liberal conscience for the time, but was to my detriment and his shame as a pastor in later years. Until I finally came to account and shaped up, that is.
Yup.
Incidentally, I was watching a documentary about the children of Nazi war criminals a few weeks ago. Amon Goeth's daughter was one of the children in the doc.
All the children despised their parents, and a number of them underwent sterilization believing that by doing so, they would eliminate the possibility of future monsters in their families. I happen to believe everybody probably has some bad genetic material.
There is evidence that psychopaths are born, not made. They really do not have the capacity to empathize with other people. They have no remorse, they feel no guilt. Brain scans show that they are missing the "empathy" regions of their brains.
That said, it is not a foregone conclusion that psychopaths are murderers. To a large degree, how they are socialized as children determines how they behave later on.
So, then, if I decide tomorrow to begin dressing like a man and trying to act like a man, and tell people to refer to me as "he" and "him", it's okay? Because that whole concept of gender is so materialistic, and I should be able to use any gender I feel like using?
Of course, I agree, but I despise the open-borders Jacoby:)
Oh I wasn’t familiar with that aspect of him. I agree he is a schmuck then.
Jeff is horrible on the immigration issue. Total open borders nutcase.
True. And they tend to partner with each other.
Looking back, it is apparent that I was not disciplined enough or correctly.
I spent 20 years of my life farting around until I had an epiphany and came correct. Essentially 20 years wasted.
I want better for my kid(s).
I’m very humbled by this award; it was an honor just to be nominated. I want to thank my parents and my parole officer. I’ll remember this day for as long as I can...
I’m very humbled by this award; it was an honor just to be nominated. I want to thank my parents and my parole officer. I’ll remember this day for as long as I can...
How can you be a life-long conservative if you ever lived in Boston? Did you hide your political views while you lived there?
My prayer is that your example of obedience toward our Father God, and continual respect of His authority, and acknowlegement of His love would be copied in your children by their obedience, respect, and love toward you.
Goals, limitations, consequences, and rewards have to be set, explained, and uniformly administered with generous doses of warm affection and spiritual maturity.
May the Lord bless this great venture of raising children.
LOL! I was too busy to type "Post of the Day!!"
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