Man in India marries dog as atonement

He tells the local newspaper he had been suffering since he stoned two canines to death. I’m not making this shit up. Apparently this guy stoned 2 dogs and hung them from a tree and has been suffering a series of misfortunes ever since. Frankly I'd like to give him a taste of his own medicine. Nothing pisses me off more than people who abuse Children, Women, or animals. That being said there are at least a couple hundred punch lines at the ready for this particular story. But I wont take the easy route as this post is really about atonement.

While our Indian friend , Dances with Dog, ooops wrong kind of Indian, is following some superstitious eastern religion inspired path to atonement, most of us don’t have it so easy. If we have any redeeming social value as human beings we feel guilt for the wrongs we have committed against our fellow man. But is atonement really possible and if so does it really help the person we wronged or does it just make us feel better? If its the latter, and I believe that’s the case, then it is just another self centered act and not really contrition.

I was reading an article the other day about an upcoming execution . The mother of the murder victim was saying that as a Christian she loved and forgave the killer , but still wanted him to be executed. She claimed it was Gods will, the whole eye for an eye thing from the Old Testament. This woman wasn’t seeking atonement, she was seeking revenge, she just didn’t have the balls to call it what it was. Atonement , at least as I understand it is an act that rights a wrong, and as much as this guy may or may not deserve to die the act of killing him wont resurrect the person who was killed anymore than marrying a dog makes up for killing the other two.

My point is this. We cant go back and right wrongs,life doesn’t come with spell check. So it behooves us to choose our words and actions carefully. I’ve done a great number of things in my past that I regret. I’ve also long since come to grips with the fact that there is no going back. At best we can try to be better people and hope that if there is a GOD he will give us a pass on the bad stuff if we even it out with some good stuff. At least that’s what I’m banking on .