Redstate

By John Finnigan Posted in Culture — Comments (2) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Charles Rust-Tierney, the former president of the Virginia Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, recently was sentenced to seven years in prison for participating in child pornography and in particula purchasing photographs of the sexual torture of infants and toddlers. I was not particularly surprised about either the conviction or the addiction to child pornography. Depravity is not an exclusive club for any group of humans, yet I am sorrowful when an individual’s depravity twists into violence and particularly sexual violence with children.

Mr. Rust-Tierney deserves everything he was sentenced to, yet I can’t help shake my head at this truly sad situation for everybody involved. I feel sorrow for the children and their families who were the victims of this depraved sexual violence. Then I feel sorrow for the family of Mr. Rust-Tierney who has lost a father, husband and provider. The family of the criminal is often painted with the same scarlet brush as the perpetrator and this injustice is most often without justification. I feel sorry for our society who has lost the skills of a highly trained attorney and officer of the court, even though I disagree with about 95% of what Mr. Rust-Tierney stood for.

I also feel sorry for Mr. Rust-Tierney. His life is shipwrecked upon his own violent depravity and his collateral damage on others is largely irreparable.

The Christian Theologian John Calvin developed five points to his view of Christianity. The first point being that without the restraining power and sanctification of the Holy Spirit of God, Man is totally depraved and incapable of acting in any other manner. Sadly, Mr. Rust-Tierney and many other people inside of and outside of the Christian Faith continually prove this point everyday.

I hope that Mr. Rust-Tierney finds the transforming power of God’s Holy Spirit and lets God take the wreckage of his life and build something worth while with the years Mr. Rust-Tierney has left.

I also pray for the salvation, healing and blessing of all the victims of this tragedy.

John