Earlier this week Ariel Castro's house of horrors in Cleveland was demolished. For years this man kept three abducted women in captivity, sexually abusing them and robbing them of any semblance of a real life. One escaped, leading to the rescue of the other two and they are reconnecting with family. One of the women and family members of the others were on hand to watch her prison be demolished.
When Castro was sentenced to life in prison, plus a thousand years (um, how does that work/) he rambled on about not being a monster, claiming that he is sick. While he is obviously trying to abdicate responsibility, he is correct in saying that he is not a monster. He is a human being who choose a terrible evil, for which he must pay the price. Labelling him a monster undermines the gravity of his crime, and also the possibility that he might accept responsibility and turn in a different direction. I think we call it repentance in the Christian faith.
The destruction of his house was the right thing to do, practically and symbolically. Authorities made sure no pieces were taken away by ghoulish profiteers who try to make money from the travails of others. Would that evil could be addressed in this way, the dismantling of what has caused harm to others.
The three women and one child will continue to deconstruct the dark power Castro claimed over them during those years and become whole persons again. Twenty two thousand dollars were found in the house but the women refused to accept it so it went to charity. What a powerful statement on their part.
Today we hear from the prophet Isaiah who proclaims justice for the vulnerable and oppressed. We can pray they are on their way.
Did you see the photos or film footage? What were your thoughts? Do you believe in evil?
2 comments:
Destruction of the house was the ONLY thing to do ... the women seem to be already on the road to healing, if they decided to refuse the money - may they be surrounded with lots of loving, caring support in the months and years to come, til they are whole again...
And, yes, Evil does indeed exist in our world... but so does Love...
I want to know why stories like this embed themselves into the media cycle and never seem to go away.
I often think that if our news media focused more on the positive things that happen across the world (and give them the same kind of unblinking attention they do cases like this) then we'd all be better off.
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