A word on the news story out of NJ

I'm pretty sure it has become national news about the college boy who committed suicide after
2 other college kids put a webcam in his room and aired a homosexual encounter on the internet. This kid was from a town that is just a 3 or 4 mile drive from us. There has been a big movement going on to try to stop gay kids from committing suicide with celebrities posting you tube messages and such. The parents of this boy are getting a lot of support from their community and their son's former high school classmates and friends though I'm sure they just want their kid back. It is so incomprehensible to think of what goes through the mind of someone who laughs while they are destroying someone's life. I just can't understand the cruelty and lack of empathy. I hope that the two people responsible for this are punished severely and it stands
as a warning to others who might think of doing something as depraved as this. Our pastor gave a sermon about this 2 Sundays ago.
Ironically, he based his sermon on something I said to him at bible class. Though our division of the Lutheran Church stands with what the bible says about homosexuality being wrong, he
felt he had to speak out against what was done to this poor guy. It is my own personal opinion that homosexuality is not a choice. I believe people are born that way and they are a child of God no matter what. I don't agree with people judging others for their sexual preference because it is none of their business and the bible also makes it VERY clear that we are in no position to judge ANYBODY. It is God's place to decide what's right or wrong, not ours. It is not OK to play God and go around deciding for yourself who is a sinner or not. We all are. And who's to say that God hasn't changed his original stance on the subject anyway? He is creating these people just like he created you and me, after all. Maybe this is all part of teaching us a lesson in tolerance of differences in people. We have several gay couples living in our neighborhood. They are wonderful folks and great neighbors and though there are a few straight folks we wouldn't mind seeing move out of here, nobody has any problem with our gay friends. There was an attack in NYC on several gay people last week that was just brutal. I read in the paper that one person involved was seen torturing a cat recently in front of friends who were all cheering. Some kids today grow up so desensitized to violence and cruelty that they have no feelings for even the most innocent and vulnerable of God's creatures. It makes me sick to hear about these things. Until this country gets serious about throwing the book at people like this, getting rid of the loopholes that let criminals off the hook, and putting people away and KEEPING them locked up, the quality of life in this country will continue to fall. Our judicial system is a joke and it is the main reason behind the high crime rates in this country. Pedophiles, rapists, and murderers are let out of prison to live amongst us and stalk their prey over and over again. Or they never go to prison in the first place because this country has so many rights protecting the guilty that the innocent get screwed. I don't get it, why is a dangerous criminal entitled to be let out on bail? Why do people who murder someone get a second chance after 12 years? It's not like the person who is dead gets a do-over. Why do people who torture/kill animals get off so easily? Getting back to what happened here at Rutgers College, all this anti-bullying stuff in schools isn't doing a darn thing. Bullying has gotten worse because of the internet and cell phones. A bully can humiliate someone in a public way reaching so many people just by tapping a few computer keys never having to ever say anything to anyone's face. It is the ultimate cowardly act. I'm sure this young man who killed himself realized how very hard it would be to live this down. Aside from changing his identity and appearance and moving away somewhere where nobody knew him before, how would he get away from something that was put out to the whole world? Kids are just as cruel as ever if not more. Are parents talking to their kids about how wrong it is to be mean? I have talked to Olivia over and over again about such things and she has been severely punished just for being rude to another child some years ago. We need to get a whole lot tougher on bullying and crime in general. We can't have kids getting bullied in school and seeing their lives destroyed without severe punishment for those responsible in hopes of deterring all bullies in the future. Bullies should be suspended the first time and expelled if it continues. Maybe mom and dad will get serious about getting their brat under control when they have to pay a tutor because "Junior" was tossed out of school. Until there are real consequences for bad behavior, it will just continue. When we see the news and someone is murdered, maybe a child was abducted, violated and killed, it is NEVER done by a first time offender. It is always someone with a history that has gotten away with their horrible acts before. Wake up America! Streamline and fix the judicial system. Build prisons and stop making the rest of us live amongst these
whack jobs! It's time this country starts "throwing away the key".