Friday, November 10, 2006

speechless, stunned, vehement

I woke up this morning very happy. Work went by well. I left the coffee shop with a smile, sat down with two friends, and ten seconds later all hope of a day of joy abandoned me.

"Did you hear the news?" they asked.

"No, what are you talking about?" I asked.

As I sit here at this computer, a whole host of emotions runs through me. I want to scream and cuss and cry all at the same time. I want to find whoever did this and make them suffer the cruelest fate imaginable. I want to rewind time and be there to stop it. I want to tell her not to go out tonight. I hung out with her for two hours before she left; if only I had known, I could've told her to stay on campus. But I had no idea. She was a different person then than she is now.

Two of my friends went out to Newport last night. As they were walking over the purple people bridge, a man with a gun accosted them. He bound the boy up with rope and left him on the street. He took the girl, took the boy's car, and after he sexually assaulted her, he dropped her off on campus and stole the car. The police ran him down and took him into custody.

I want to find whoever did this and kill them. I'm not even going to lie. I want to beat them till they die.

I keep thinking about when Julie and I walked the purple people bridge. What if I had been bound? What if she had been taken? I can't imagine the hell we'd both be going through. I would not be able to live with myself. I don't even want to think about it.

The entire campus is stunned. We want them to bring the perpetrator, throw him in the middle of the quad, and let us all go out on him, tear him limb-from-limb. We're all a big family here; one of our brothers and one of our sisters were abused. Jesus says, "Love your enemies." I really don't feel like obeying that right now. But I guess it doesn't matter how I feel.

My prayer is simply, "God... Have mercy on your children. And bring judgment on the one who did this."

5 comments:

Mike said...

I can't imagine what the campus in general and these two students specifically, are going through. Although I am only there one night a week, this is my family too. My prayers and thoughts are with everyone involved.

Rochelle said...

Anthony
That makes me sad to hear that I understand how you feel..it's hard not to want to "retaliate" It takes away your sense of security. Your two friends will have alot of healing to do..the best thing you can do for them is just be there for them..they will need their friends/family

Anonymous said...

Proverbs 10:12

1 Corinthians 14:1 and
1 Corinthians 13:7-13

We all make mistakes! Learn to forgive. Yes it was terriable about your friends but the one that did it is now going to have to pay for what he did.

"Love cover's all wrongs" Even Injustice!

Mike said...

It is difficult to forgivea guy who ties up a guy, steals his car and then proceeds to kidnap the girl, rape her twice, and dumps her off. I am glad that God can choose to forgive him, but the very human side of me will have a hard time with it. When i first heard of this, i was shocked to my core. it disturbed me. maybe it was the animalistic crimes, maybe it was the fact that stealing $1000 from the girls bank account wasn't enough for this dirtbag, the fact that he felt he should also forever traumatize the girl by raping her twice at gunpoint is what really disturbs me. i am a forgiving person, i am usually not punishment driven, but i hope they throw the book at this animal and i hope his time in jail is a taste of what hell might be like. if that makes me a bad person, i guess i will have to work out my salvation in fear and trembling.

Mike said...

btw, i have worked in the rehabilitation setting with sexual offenders for four years. a "mistake" is a poor choice or an accident, which is not what this waste of life did. he did something to this girl that she will never recover from. a "mistake" is something you can say, "i'm sorry" for. rape is not a mistake, it is a crime against humanity, a crime of displaced power and control. this man knew what he was capable off. we often try to justify things in order for us to move on. sometimes we even unknowingly blame the victim for being in "the wrong place at the wrong time." let me make this statement and then finish: IT IS NEVER THE VICTIM'S FAULT! NEVER!

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