MESSAGE OF HOPE

A Message of Hope in the Book of Jonah

Shortly after reading the Book of Jonah in the Bible, a curious viewpoint was revealed to me. Nineveh, the wicked city of 120,000, was to be warned of destruction by the Lord through Jonah. Of course, Jonah did not want to go warn the city of Nineveh because of the slight chance that the Lord’s wrath will be appeased and the Ninevites would be spared. From Jonah’s viewpoint, Israel’s enemies deserved annihilation; however the Lord, who is wiser and all seeing, is the only one to decide whether annihilation is deserving and whether it will be carried out or not.

My thoughts drifted to the viewpoint of John Walsh and other individuals, politicians, etc, who would like all 700,000+ sex offenders banished, imprisoned, or preferably destroyed. As we all know, the ‘sex offender’ is a broad label that encompasses many, regardless of how severe or petty the incident was and regardless of how long it has been since the incident. It is democratic in that it distinguishes all in one big group – dangerous and to be feared by society. It is a fault-ridden label created by cowardly politicians and vindictive fear-mongering advocates.

However, despite the many tirades of John Walsh and his types, the ‘sex offender’ population will not be destroyed. One reason, that as long as the list remains, it will only get larger and burdensome for the taxpayers. The basic law of diminishing returns will insure that. Second, and more importantly, because the Lord knows that not all ‘sex offenders’ are evil incarnate, that many of them should not even be on a list, especially after they have done their time. Moreover, the dangerous child-raping murderer that society fears is not on the list. Why, you ask? Because they are in prison or death-row! They are not mingling in the public. Therefore, despite all the silly ordinances that are created, it will eventually come to pass that sensibility will once again prevail in the land and much of the nonsense will be tossed into the ash heap of bad legislation. How much suffering and burdens will have to be endured between now and that day, I am not sure, but it will eventually get better.

Referring back to Jonah, the Lord didn’t destroy Nineveh because they were willing to seek forgiveness and He graciously forgave them. Many ‘sex offenders’ already know the Lord has forgiven them. Therefore we can take comfort in the fact that John Walsh and his types, like Jonah, will not be granted their wishes for destruction.

-Anonymous