Reply #208: Because I typically feel sorry for people that have suffered, [View All]

[Igel]

especially if it's driven them over the edge and made others suffer.

Some people in churches like this need help; the churches and the support network they provide sometimes help them hold it all together and even get past their problems. But sometimes a person's problems interact badly with the beliefs they've chosen or with the people involved, or are beyond what the support network can provide. I don't know why Ratzmann did what he did, I wish he hadn't, and I feel sorry for him. I can't sit back and say, "Serves the losers right" any more than I do when a postal employee goes postal, some gangbangers off each other, or a SISMI agent gets offed in a war zone.

The people that were there are already working on forgiving him and trying to understand him. That's compassion. I consider that to be a progressive virtue.

Sorry, I'm not drowning in cynicism today.