[schmelvin]

My thoughts and feelings exactly. This is the worst thing I've seen in my 60 years on this planet. I thought my tears had dried up years ago, but this last two weeks I've cried buckets. I believe that the retribution for this most foul murder by the United States government will come quickly and make the fall of the towers look like child's play. We were warned, we were weighed in the balance, we were found wanting. The powerful ones who caused and permitted this atrocity should be very afraid. Those of us who see the global and cosmic implications of such an act of pure evil know that the pale horse and his rider are here, and I for one will spend my remaining days in sackcloth and ashes. This betrayal, this desecration, will not be forgiven, judgment will be swift, divine vengeance will be terrible. There are still a few voices crying in the wilderness. I can only hope and pray that we will be heard.

In some ways this must be much more painful for you, because you are 20 years older than I am; therefore, you have many more memories of the way America used to be. I have memories of an innocent, safe, and good America too, but only from my childhood. That America no longer exists, and it tears me to pieces to see what we've now become. I'm not an America-basher and never have been, but the America I remember would've never allowed such a terrible injustice to occur. The America I remember is gone, and this was the final death blow.

I want to clarify that my grief is not solely for our country; I did and do grieve for Terri. I imagined myself in her shoes. I imagined what it would be like to be aware, but helplessly unable to speak. I imagined what it would be like to be betrayed and discarded like garbage by the man who'd vowed to love and protect me in sickness and in health. I imagined what it would be like to die so slowly and agonizingly, knowing the entire time that this was all being done to me "legally". I grieve for Terri, her parents & siblings, and all who truly loved her, as well as grieving for what America has become. And, I grieve for all those who will now be murdered as she was thanks to the precedent that's been set.

You've mentioned twice that America was weighed in the balance and found wanting. Perhaps, you are already aware of what I'm about to point out:

"Mene mene tekel upharsin" is what was written on the wall by the hand of God the night Babylon fell. (The prophet Daniel's interpretation was: Mene--God has numbered your kingdom and finished it. Tekel--You are weighed in the balances and are found wanting. Upharsin--Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.)

Many people scratch their heads and wonder why a country as great, powerful, and influential as America is not mentioned at all in any of the prophetic books of the Bible. But, I think America is mentioned, hundreds of times. The ancient prophecies of the end time country the Bible refers to as Babylon perfectly describe what can only be one nation: America. No other nation in the world fits these prophecies of modern day Babylon; Iraq certainly doesn't. Only America does.

This modern day Babylon is prophecied to burn. It will be entirely destroyed by fire, and it will be destroyed in one hour. God warns His people who still remain in Babylon to flee. He says, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities."

My household doesn't need to flee, because we've already been moved overseas. We'd never planned to move, it just sort of happened due to rapidly changing and completely unanticipated circumstances that literally pushed us out of the country. Several months ago, doors of opportunity began to quickly open and close in such a way that within 2 days we went from never imagining in our wildest dreams that we'd ever leave America to packing our bags. It was really strange the way it all happened.

I'll probably be ridiculed by some FReepers for what I've just said and get accused of being an America-hater or a lib, even though I'm an old school, Founding Fathers/U.S. Constitution-loving, conservative American. I have never in my life cheered for the demise of America. What I've seen our great nation become makes me weep. My heart is shattered and I've shed enough tears to fill bucket after bucket, because it's never been more clear to me than now that the America I knew in my youth is gone.

[telltaleheart]

Yes, I know the passage from the feast of Belshazzar well. The other day, in a moment of impotent disbelief, I e-mailed those very words to Jeb Bush. Not that he would read them, or understand them, but I had to do something.

I don't hate America, either. I hate what's happened. I hate the fact that power is so corrupting. I mourn for Terri and all the slaughtered innocents, I mourn for our country, I mourn for all the victims of wicked and blind men.

May you be safe in your new home, and continue on a path of enlightenment. May there be a new and better world, if not in my time, in yours. May all people of good will find a safe haven and respite from the evils that have been wrought upon our world.

[texasbluebell]

Your posts are all so perfect. I can't tell you how affecting they are.

Heart-breaking, literally.

This country has lost her way.