Kelsey Smith Kidnapping and Murder

YogaMama

I am not sure if this story made national news, but a young girl, age 18, by the name of Kelsey Smith was abducted from the parking lot of a Target store and they found her body a few days ago. It is a heartbreaking story. It is in the city where I live, and I am at that same store all the time. It's just 5 minutes form my house. I just ask that all of you keep your thoughts with her family. I just can't imagine losing a child that way. Or any way, for that matter!

http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/news/13467622/detail.html

Arctic-Stranger

As the Quakers say, I am holding you in the Light.

Brigid

Tragic thing to have happened so close to home, Yoga. I followed the story from the beginning and it was just heartbreaking. I'm glad about the surveillance cameras though. Bless you, Yoga. I'm thinking of you.

Love,
Boo

bushinoki

Another forum I post on, fightingarts.com, one of the mods there attended the same church as her. I completely symphathize with everyone involved. We had two similar events in my hometown withing the last ten years. One of the girls was never found.

buddhafoot

I'm not trying to be a dick here, but "it must have been God's plan".

Did anyone catch my sarcasm?

My heart goes out to the parents. I cannot imagine.

-bf

bushinoki

bf, let's not forget the community as well. All I can think about when something like that happens in my hometown, is that "It could have been (my sister, cousin, brother, mother, father, etc.) I just recently heard about a good friend, who used to work for my family at the restaraunt we owned, she was in a car accident. Her seatbelt failed, allowing her to be ejected from the back windshield, and crushed by the car. The prognosis is that she probably won't make it. These tragedies strike close to home for the entire community. That somebody is always someone's friend or loved one.

buddhafoot

True, Bushi...

I wasn't discounting other family members or the community. As well as the parents, I can't imagine how her friends are dealing with this. I'm sure they're having a hard time picking up the pieces as well.

This is a horrible horrible thing to have happen and, I must say, I have a hard time NOT wanting a swift and final punishment to come to the person or people that did this.

-bf

Simonthepilgrim

buddhafoot wrote:

True, Bushi...

I wasn't discounting other family members or the community. As well as the parents, I can't imagine how her friends are dealing with this. I'm sure they're having a hard time picking up the pieces as well.

This is a horrible horrible thing to have happen and, I must say, I have a hard time NOT wanting a swift and final punishment to come to the person or people that did this.

-bf

It is more than a coincidence that Samhita posted this today:

Comments: There one sees all the times one has been a killer, a thief,
a crook, a hero, an ordinary being and all the possible evil things one
has done not one time, but billions of billions of times in this looong
Samsara - The dreadful round of rebirths. A truly humongous sight!

Each time I hear of or experience the desire for revenge punishment, I am immediately reminded that there is, within me, all that could have made me the perpetrator. It certainly keeps me within such limited humility as I capable of.

One of the greatest shocks that has come to me from some decades of practice, practice, practice of compassion, in the hope that it will "take", is that the pain of the victims and the perpetrators are both as present and real as each other.

It was so much easier when I could take some sort of moral high ground.

Brigid

Great post, Simon.

federica

Someone on another forum was asking people in general how they felt about the death sentence/paedophiles/rapists/murderers, and then asked me directly on forum, what the Buddhist perspective was on these matters. This board is predominantly Christian, you see....
I told her I would PM her, and she agreed, which I duly did.
I responded in a PM, explaining the generally accepted stance of attempting to practise compassion, and so on...
She pasted my reply on forum, tore it to shreds and posted the opinion that I was a 'crim-lover' and had no morals, and that I was no better than they were....
Unfortunately, the majority of other posters didn't perceive my intention or appreciate my comments either, even though they were posted as a private message. The fundamental underatnding so eloquently outlined in Simon's post, was not received therefore, in the way one might have hoped, shall I say.....


Funnily enough, I don't go in there much any more.....

Ah well....

buddhafoot

Simonthepilgrim wrote:

It is more than a coincidence that Samhita posted this today:

Each time I hear of or experience the desire for revenge punishment, I am immediately reminded that there is, within me, all that could have made me the perpetrator. It certainly keeps me within such limited humility as I capable of.

One of the greatest shocks that has come to me from some decades of practice, practice, practice of compassion, in the hope that it will "take", is that the pain of the victims and the perpetrators are both as present and real as each other.

It was so much easier when I could take some sort of moral high ground.

I know... I know...

I wasn't saying I ~wanted~ that - I was just saying there is still a part of me that rears that ugly "revenge" head...

-bf

YogaMama

I hear ya, buddhafoot. Especially when it comes to things like this. I can't even imagine going through somehting like that with my daughter. It is terrifying.

Palzang

The problem with horrible situations like this is that we as ignorant sentient beings have such limited view. We only see this one life, and then poorly. We only remember what we want to remember and forget all the crap we do to others. If we were able to see all the causes which resulted in this terrible event we would gain a whole new perspective, and if we could see all the horrendous things we ourselves have done throughout endless time, we also would have a hard time hating those who commit such acts. It's very easy to demonize someone; it takes real courage and love to recognize them as ignorant sentient beings just trying to be happy like everyone else but not having a clue how to do it, and to feel compassion for them because of that.

Palzang

YogaMama

Well said, Palzang. I have noticed over the past few years that my practice has been helping me in situations like this. I see the man that did this to Kelsey and I do feel sad for him and wonder how in the world he became the type of person that could do something like this. The media will never tell you about how he had a tough life, or what lead him to do this. And that's too bad. No one wants to hear about that.

buddhafoot

It is weird when you read about people like Dahmer and such - when they go back into their childhood and show what their life was like.

Most of the time, it wasn't anything good. All the pain and hurt that was heaped upon them and how they dealt with and digested it to create what it was they finally became.

It still doesn't help me from being angry at what this poor girl went through.

I can't imagine and nor do I want to. I'm guess I'm too chicken.

-bf

NirvanaNoob

thats scary >.<

Xrayman

The article says something like "He may be entitled to the death penalty"

The writer may need to edit and rewrite their prose before printing it next time.

YogaMama

"Entitled" to the death penalty? What a lucky guy!

bushinoki

Eligible is the appropriate word here. And that is solely a legal matter.

I do have an update on the family friend. Her almost total recovery is nothing short of miraculous. She still needs time to heal the wounds, but the permanent damage is going to be minimal.

I don't want to go too deep on the death penalty debate here, we've hashed that one out, but I will say that the person who actually did it is someone I don't want wandering around in normal society.

buddhafoot

Bushinoki,

I wouldn't want someone like that wandering around society as well.

Years ago - I would have actually thought something like this:

"Don't kill the person - put them in a strange house - with cruel men (or women) who are much, much larger and menacing than they are.

Then allow this/these people/person to destroy, rape, frighten, abuse their body and mind just like they did to these poor children - but it would have to incorporate the same feelings and emotions that they inflicted on these poor children and it would have to take something from them - just like the things they took from these children.


Now - I don't know that I've completely gotten away from that - because you can never replace or provide solice for people that have endured this...

But... as Pally will tell us - it's all about karma. By killing this person - we are only creating more negative karma to heap upon the negative karma that has been started with them.

I don't know what I would do to this person - but I don't believe that killing or suffering is the solution for these sorts of people...

-bf

Palzang

I'm sure that you'll be overjoyed to know that "Pally" agrees.

Palzang

buddhafoot

Are you stalking my posts?

It's creeping me out.

BTW, that restraining order is still in affect... in case you forgot.

-bf

Palzang

Oh, I know your every move, boobie! Including what you're doing now... Ugh, disgusting!

Palzang