Throwing Stones

Unless you have been living under a rock for a while, you are well aware of the financial crisis going on in America. Recently there have been mobs gathering to lynch the executives of AIG for receiving bonuses. Ok, maybe not lynch, but at least harm their children. Unfortunately I'm not exaggerating. I read an article about the threats that the executives have received due to accepting bonuses. There are several that are explicative laden, so I will leave those for your imagination, but here are a few that have been received via email, letter, or phone call.

-- "I don't hope that bad things happen to the recipients of those bonuses. I really hope that bad things happen to the children and grandchildren of them! Whatever hurts them the most!!"
-- "If the bonuses don't stop, it will be very likely that every CEO @ AIG has a bulls-eye on their backs."
-- "We will hunt you down. Every last penny. We will hunt your children and we will hunt your conscience. We will do whatever we can to get those people getting the bonuses. Give back the money or kill yourselves."
-- "All the executives and their families should be executed with piano wire around their necks my greatest hope."
-- "The Revolution is coming. The family members of your executives are not safe. Your blood will run through the streets in the coming months."

These are some pretty big rocks being thrown. Now, I am certainly not saying that the bonuses were justified, or should have been received, but is it necessary to send threats to these people? Are threats of harming family members, the executives themselves, or encouraging suicide really what greed deserves? Are the people issuing these threats any better than those executives? According to John 8:7 no, they are not. "...If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone..." None of us are without sin, therefore none of us should be sitting in judgement towards AIG. We don't have to agree, we don't have to feel good about it, but we should not hurl threat stones at them either.

"God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed." Ecclesiastes 3:17

Future Gambler or Typical Kid?

An article titled "Impulsive in kindergarten? Gambling ahead" is on MSNBC today. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29470066/It states, "Children rated as impulsive by their kindergarten teachers appear more likely to begin gambling behaviors like playing cards or placing bets before they hit middle school..." Really? I wonder if these are the same children that are going to be incorrectly labled "ADHD" and prescribed medication that will stunt their emotional development. Give me a break people. I wish I could sit in on the committees that come up with these studies. Although there are obviously some very valuable medical studies out there, there are also plenty that are a ridiculous waste of time. It goes without saying (although I'm saying it here anyway) that when children don't have the proper environment at home, and are left to their own devices, they are going to find a way to cope with life. I have yet to find any person who had a rough childhood that didn't grow up with some sort of dysfunction. The point is, kindergarten kids are supposed to be impulsive and it's up to the parents to "train them in the way they should go, so when they are in middle school they won't turn to gambling".

"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6