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Friday, May 30, 2008

MURDER FOR SALVATION

In the DESTINY’S DAMNED Trilogy, a man who has been a vicious killer through all his many lives, carries such evil within him that he becomes evil himself. He is haunted by it. He lives in a hell because of it.

He comes to believe his only hope is the Christian promise of salvation, but there is historical evidence there is no salvation. How desperate would he be? What would he do? He turns to the God that promised him salvation, joins hands with Him, and kills again.

Swearing to God his allegiance he did what he always did to satiate himself. He hurt someone. He murdered. He hurt even himself:
“Like stings from wasps, bits of razor woven in knots of sisal rope cut him in nine different places, their sharp points slicing into then ripping his bare back. The cat-o-nine he was using on himself was devised from pictures he saw of relics. Knees pressed hard against the concrete, shoulders rounded to stretch and make the cuts bleed, he bowed in prayer. Amid the musty darkness of the unfinished basement, the only light that single, 25-watt, purple bulb, he was in spiritual reverie, his mind unshakably linked with God’s.
Resting the tendrils of the whip on the floor, raising his eyes to heaven, he prayed, ‘Forgive me, Dear God, all my trespasses, and lead me not again into temptation.’ Lowering his head and, once more, rounding his shoulders, he flicked his wrist, raising the tendrils like willows in a wind over his shoulder. Striking himself even harder than before he repeated, ‘Forgive me, Dear God, for all my trespasses and lead me not again into temptation.’”

From DESTINY’S DAMNED.

© Shawna Ryan
Author: thrillers DESTINY'S DAMNED & SATAN'S SCAT
available:
www.pilchuckpublishing.com
amazon.com
books stores and libraries

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

IS CHRISTIAN SALVATION IMMORAL?

When we think about the possibilities of reincarnation or any other afterlife, we want to believe that when we leave this life and go into the next, we go with a clean slate. Even if we reincarnate into a dung beetle because of our wrongs or if we go to purgatory, we want to believe that despite our demotion or punishment we have a chance to redeem ourselves. If we’re a good dung beetle, we’ll come back on a higher order the next time and ultimately become human again. If we pay our debt in purgatory, we’ll get to go to heaven. Better yet, if we’re forgiven by the church here on earth, there is no debt and we’re free to continue our evil ways at will, unscathed.
It’s seems important to humans that we be forgiven for our evils. We want to be able to start over again with an unmarked soul even if we’ve done something awful. Christian churches have made a lucrative business out of forgiving us. They’ll forgive us even for cardinal sins as long as we worship the way they want us to worship and we give them tithing.
But what if those churches have no power to forgive? What if the men and women behind the pulpit aren’t really the agents of God? What if there is no redemption? The evils we commit in one life go with us into the next. Isn’t that the way it should be?
Is it right to be able to leave this life and go into the next with a clean slate? Should reincarnation or any other afterlife free us from the evils we commit? Isn’t it only fair that each of us carry forever the burden of our evil?
Doesn’t the promise of salvation by merely accepting a faith actually encourage evil? Doesn’t that alone, make it immoral?
© Shawna Ryan
Author: thrillers DESTINY'S DAMNED & SATAN'S SCAT
available:
www.pilchuckpublishing.com
amazon.com
books stores and libraries

Friday, May 16, 2008

DESTINY'S DAMNED: A KILLER'S SACRIFICE TO GOD

Careful not to remove the veil, Judy reveled in the feel of the towel across her body. Like a hot, cleansing bath of the kind she had not had in weeks, she did not mind when he took the towel to reach around her and tenderly clean her back and buttocks. Better than a meal, life almost again worth living, she sighed. Patiently waiting while he returned the towel to the bathroom, she clasped her hands, looked to the ceiling, and prepared to pray.
From his pants pocket, he took a tobacco tin and, holding his hand over the tin, dipped his fore and middle fingers inside. “Repeat after me. Our father,” he began, as she followed, “who art in heaven. Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven....” Stepping toward her, he put his ash soiled fingers on her forehead and made the sign of the cross. “In this time of sacrifice, we must forego our sins and be penitent,” he continued alone. “Judy Bowers, You and I are adulterers. We are sinners before God. If we are to find salvation we must sacrifice. We must free ourselves from sin.”
Instinct telling her this was the moment of her release, hope erupted inside her. Looking up at him expectantly,she smiled as his blade found her throat and cut.

FROM DESTINY'S DAMNED


© Shawna Ryan
Author: thrillers DESTINY'S DAMNED & SATAN'S SCAT
available:
www.pilchuckpublishing.com
amazon.com
books stores and libraries

Monday, May 12, 2008

JACK THE RIPPER-HIS HOPE FOR SALVATION

Murder for salvation. Even the most evil of men hope to be forgiven. Hope to be granted the salvation offered by the crucifixion.

Jack the Ripper, whose actual identity has not been established, murdered, cut open and removed organs from five women in London in 1888. According to Richard Patterson, Jack the Ripper may have been Francis Thompson, a renowned poet. He was also a cricket fan who impressed and made friends with other poets. His most famous poem was “The Hound of Heaven” in which he talks about God’s pursuit of a human soul.

All of Jack the Ripper’s victims were prostitutes, all murdered near Christ Church of Whitechapel. Richard Patterson, in his casebook FRANCIS THOMPSON, believed The Ripper’s motive might have been that he was chosen by God and that he was the voice of God. Killing these women would have wounded society. Patterson argued that The Ripper may have perceived himself to be a “messiah.”

Patterson connected the murders to the feast days of martyred saints, all eastern crusaders and saints of Innocence, Butchers, Soldiers, Doctors and Scholars. Contending The Ripper was attempting to project the five wounds of Christ’s Crucifixion on society by murdering five sinners near a church, Patterson believed The Ripper was trying to be a key player in the apocalypse so he could be forgiven his sins.
Source: From an article entitled: “Francis Thompson” by Richard Patterson at http://www.casebook.org/suspects/ft.html

In DESTINY’S DAMNED, the serial killer is also obsessed with the hope that by murdering he will be granted salvation by virtue of the promise of the Crucifixion. How can we help but wonder why these murderers conclude the Christian promise of salvation was meant for them? Meant they would be forgiven if only they killed for God. Is it something the Church said?

© Shawna Ryan
Author: thrillers DESTINY'S DAMNED & SATAN'S SCAT
available:
www.pilchuckpublishing.com
amazon.com
books stores and libraries

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

SATAN'S SCAT: SYBIL AND THE ASYLUM

Furrowing her brows, she stared at him, slowly and steadily guiding her eyes along straight planes as she carefully examined his face, hesitating but once as she paused at the ear she bit off.
“Remember?” he asked, restraining his impatience.
Her eyes met his, and as she gazed at him, he felt her soul move inside him. It startled him. His saliva turned to salt. When he gulped, his throat burned. His legs unwilling to wait, his body forcing him to get up, he stood. “That’s all right, you don’t have to remember. I’ve got to go now, but I’ll be back tomorrow.”
He found himself running down the hallway, down the stairs, and onto the street, his heart skipping beats every time it tried to repel her. “Sybil!” he screamed, as he kept running.

Excerpt from SATAN’S SCAT.

© Shawna Ryan
Author: thrillers DESTINY'S DAMNED & SATAN'S SCAT
available:
www.pilchuckpublishing.com
amazon.com
books stores and libraries

Friday, May 2, 2008

CLOISTER

Forbidden to touch anyone or anything but the cold, stone floor on which they prayed and prostrated themselves, sleeping without cover on thin beds of straw, they lived isolated and alone. In a dark, dank, six-hundred-square-foot room with a fourteen-foot high ceiling, in a structure made entirely of stone, with only two, scant candles on the granite altar providing light, the brilliant orange dawn was lost somewhere outside.
In control of her shaking, the cold forgotten, she allowed her senses to wake and heard from a distance, a thick, bronze bell, the sound muffled by pungent smoke which draped the air and hindered her breathing. Her awareness aroused, the rich, lingering sound of the bell came closer and, with it, a voice, a grim, deliberate voice in methodical rhythm.

Excerpt from SATAN’S SCAT.

© Shawna Ryan
Author: thrillers DESTINY'S DAMNED & SATAN'S SCAT
available:
www.pilchuckpublishing.com
amazon.com
books stores and libraries