ISIS Again

Another ISIS atrocity: burning a Jordanian pilot alive in a cage.

I listened to one reporter's detailed description of what went on in that video. I also watched a small part of it - the part where the ignition trail is lit and the flames start to surround the poor soul in the cage. He was jumping around, and I clicked away. No need to immerse ourselves in such scenes, I think; it is enough to know that this evil is happening.

I saw too that the king of Jordan had authorized the execution of some terrorists that were being held in prison in his country. And I saw that early the very next morning after the immolation video was released, two terrorists were in fact executed by hanging.

There's a part of me - maybe a part of all of us? - that thinks that those executions were justified. There's a part of me that doesn't. I just don't know; it is possible to argue both ways on it, I suppose, but I'm not really interested in figuring it out. For the most part, I am horrified by these deaths - all of them. I am horrified when I think about the state of the souls of those who would intentionally set fire to a man that way. I am horrified to think that these things - the beheadings, the immolation, and throwing bound men off a tall tower to their deaths - are going on in the world today. 

I knelt before my icon of Our Lady of Sorrows, and wondered how sad she must feel to see such atrocities being committed. I think she is sorry to see the retribution that followed the pilot's death, too - whether or not it was justified.

And then there's the Super Bowl...

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.