Regarding Larry Nassar

As the media has dredged up the horror of abuse of power and sexuality at the cost of human innocence, I cannot help but hurt. Oh, ladies, I am so sorry. Absolutely sorry. I weep with you to think of the pain, hurt, turmoil, self-doubt, and loss of trust that so many like-minded men have caused. It is painful to think how things could go wrong, and wrenchingly chilling to realize that it did, in fact, go wrong. It wronged girls, their families, and even the entirety of the human race. Such pervasive abuse has exacted an exorbitant cost, one that no human—or even a group of them--can repay: mental repercussions, physical reminders, maligned relationships, damaged integrity, and the growth of fear and hate instead of joy and love. This is a twisting of authority and a mangling of sex that we cannot stand for; indeed, that we are required to stand against. No man, no person, that commits sexual abuse can walk away unscathed. And for that, I also weep. How humanity has fallen! Like King David of old, they have valued temporary desires over moral action and heavenly pleasures, have broken the laws of honor and eternity, and have lost their souls as a result. In the clear piercing light of truth, these necrotic, rotting men are revealed as wholly insignificant; they were offered heaven, and they spurned it and lost all. How art they fallen from heaven, children of the morning! So take care, all the decent and good and resilient people in the world, take care of where you look. You can keep looking back into the darkness, and reap bitterness for lost time. But you can also look forward for healing and glory and win. And then, maybe one day, you might be able to extend compassion to these demons in the shadows; not because abusers deserve it--because they don’t—but because humanity can miraculously turn into divinity. Because Mercy, like Justice, is divine.