Does everyone have a sense of right and wrong? Is the ability to differentiate between moral and immoral behavior built into all of us?
Odd Thomas, one of my absolute favorite fictional characters created by Dean Koontz, states the case like this.
“We are born with intuition, which includes the natural law, a sense of right and wrong. (However) a lot of people rebel so continually against natural law that not only does that part of their intuition atrophy but also every other aspect of it.”
With the seventh anniversary of the murder of Stacey Burns just days away, Odd Thomas made me think about the natural law, the law that gives all human beings the right to live their lives without fear, with confidence that others will do the right thing. Just before receiving my first holy communion in the Catholic Church at age seven (a very long time ago) I was told that I had reached the age of reason. I was responsible for my sins because I now knew the difference between right and wrong. The nuns and priests who told me that were correct. My intuition still tells me (many, many years later) what behavior is right and what behavior is wrong. This is the natural law at work.
My question? Do you think the person (or persons) responsible for Stacey’s death know the difference between right and wrong? Of course! That is, unless their intuition is atrophied to such a point that their immorality is an ingrained part of their personality. They know the difference but simply do not care. Logically, if they do not care, they are in violation of the natural law and represent a pathetic excuse for a human being yet deserve no pity. Ultimately, every human being has free will; the future is fluid, not cast in stone.
It is time for this pathetic excuse to be exposed. Seven years is too long, isn’t it?
Duke
This made me think of when murderers plead temporary insanity to lessen their sentence or get off. I believe as you do that all but the most severely insane know the difference between right and wrong, but some will act wrongly anyway for their own selfish reasons and in fact not care. As in “I couldn’t help it, I needed to resolve the situation, get revenge, etc.” Such a person is not going to feel enough guilt or remorse to turn themselves in, especially not as time marches on. They will feel justified and more safe as being charged eludes them. Seven years is WAY too long. But for that I blame the police who have not continued to investigate and resolve the crime.
A guy was missing for 10 years and the police never gave up. They finally found him burried in the front yard of their number one suspect! That was 20 years ago. The suspect, Robert Chambers was never tried. Just as in Stacey’s case the police did their job and just like Stacey’s case the Ag won’t do his, There is no need to try a case that you could lose and our ag knows he doesn’t have a lawyer capable of winning. The sad thing for n.h. residents is the ag’s office and the press are the same, same familys in fact with the same agenda and unfortunately it’s not about justice, it’s about keeping their jobs and getting rich. Right and wrong are now subjects of discussion, not set in stone. Stacey’s kids are very smart, this has been put away for a while but some day I suspect a civil case will be the answer.
IT’S OFFICIAL !!!!! STACEY BURNS CASE HAS GONE COLD !!! just another name on a very long and getting longer list. GREAT JOB JEFF STRELZIN you worthlesss piece of shit.
Michael Keane could get us some answers if he felt we deserved any?