Father Knows Best: Monsters on Helloween

Op/Ed

Being a native New Yorker, I’ve seen it all: revelry, street fights, drug deals gone wrong, corruption, two skyscrapers collapse, wanton promiscuity, death...it’s routine living here in the Rotten Apple. Still, some things can melt my tough NY heart.

Child Sacrifice
This article in the NY Daily News shook me to the core. It alleges that a four-year-old child was thrown into a bathtub, doused with cold water, and then beaten nearly to death with a belt and hanger for “touching himself”. He was left untreated for two days, and then he died of cardiac arrest. The mother and house guest were charged. These individuals’ behavior was akin to monsters on Helloween.

The article hints at the possibility of the child having experienced some level of sexual abuse in recent times. For many parents, such a beating is an attempt to mask the idea from their own consciousness and/or an attempt to shut the child up from “ratting them out”.

Call to Action
Don’t pray for the child: there’s nothing left to do for him. Pray, instead, for the accused and all of the monsters of the world. Ask God to forgive their sins and work this situation out in whatever way God deems best. I know stories like this can bring out the mob mentality in the best of us, urging us to call for their heads, but let God be the judge and jury in this. Let God’s will be done.

And finally, gentlemen, love your children. Don’t lay a hand on them, except in love. Teach your children through gentler means, the way Jesus would. Your children will live longer, more fulfilling lives and love you all the more for it.

Take care, and influence someone for good today :D
Scott, The Active Daddy