Honesty

I have been mulling this thought over in my head for about a week.  I probably should go look up some quotes as I feel this is more of an essay topic than a random thought in my head.

A drunk young man here killed 4 motorcyclists just days before Adam's crash.  Adam and I were shocked, like all the other people in our community--it was a horrific crash.  When it happened I was so afraid that someone involved was someone we knew who had been up motorcycling with her husband, also at Sturgis--the same as the four men killed.  Thankfully, our friends took a different route back to Omaha that day.  Adam shook his head though.  He hated all the drunk driving accidents that he saw as a physician.  The majority were usually single-rollover accidents involving the drunk not wearing a seatbelt, or other drunken related bar-fight-type accidents.  I always thought it was so ironic that the majority of those Adam cared for seemed to be really stupid people doing really stupid things.

In my church we have a set of basic beliefs known as The Articles of Faith.  While just a smattering of our beliefs, they are a good summary of sorts.  One of these Articles starts off by saying, "We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men."  I've determined that the first virtue listed--honesty--is something that society has generally completely messed up, backwards.

Now, I'll be honest in saying that while I try to be honest in all the things I do, I know I'm not perfect.  Sometimes I stretch the truth if I deem it is necessary, but generally, no.  I try to be honest in my dealings with my fellow men, I'd honestly say.

So why is it our legal system is SO screwed up.  I don't understand the whole thing "pleading guilty or not-guilty."

The guy that killed the 4 motorcyclists this week got up in court and plead guilty.  Seems like a no-brainer to me, DUH.  You killed 4 people dude, of COURSE you're guilty.  We all know it.

So why oh why is it that the "defendant" in our case thinks he can plead not guilty--to all 3 charges?  Is he really THAT stupid?  Hmm.  Because, no, my husband wasn't killed by you and you weren't drunk?  Hmm, I must be mistaken.  Oh yeah, and that WASN'T my two children that were injured due to your idiocy?  Hmm, I must be mistaken again.  No, that hasn't been me who was up in the middle of the night taking care of my poor children for the past 6 months.  I must not be guilty of catering to their every need all this time, helping soothe their fears because they watched their daddy die.

Hmm.

S-T-U-P-I-D.  It's a word that I don't like my kids to use, yet I find myself saying and thinking it constantly.  That, and L-I-A-R.

I mean, don't people have some sort of conscience?  I believe that we are ALL born with a conscience and it can't feel good to know that you've done something so terrible and yet plead not guilty, that one is trying to avoid or evade what ACTUALLY happened.  It just seems so incredulous, so fantastically....well, STUPID.  And it's hurtful.  And downright disrespectful to me as a human being.

I believe that everyone born on this earth chose to come here.  We chose--we did have another option and that was to follow Satan's plan instead of Christ's.  Every person on this earth chose Christ's plan that allowed us to have the freedom to choose what we did on this earth.  We wanted to be here, to learn, to grow, to experience life.  We all came here and started off as "good" people.  And yet, to somehow justify life, to justify our actions in this manner is downright rude, evil to me as a fellow human being, as a fellow sibling.  We are all brothers and sisters.  How could a brother do such a thing to me?  Mess up this bad and then be dishonest and not just admit that he was wrong, that he did an unspeakably bad thing?  It's unfathomable.

While fessing up and saying "I did it, I'm sorry" wouldn't fix things, it would certainly be the correct and just thing to do.  It injures my faith in humanity that someone would be this wrong, this backstabbingly terrible to me--a perfect stranger.  A perfect stranger whose life, whose every second of every day is impacted by this man's actions.  Every second.  Literally.  This dishonest man.

A man who I will be coming face to face with on Valentine's Day.  A day I should be spending with MY valentine.  Instead, I will NOT be smiling.  Not for him, not for the cameras there that day.  Instead I will be giving him my best, most hurtful, heart-felt stare down I can give.  Period.  I hope it makes his heart and his conscience hurt.  Honestly.