Sodom!!

Having never heard this story before, I read it with both an e-reader and bewilderment. The story begins with God telling Abraham and his wife, Sarah, that they were going to have a baby. They are both old at this time, so Sarah scoffs at the thought of her being able to have another baby. Tip: Don't laugh at God, because he will destroy your city if you do so. God was angered and believed that the entire city of Sodom was corrupt. To see if the city is as bad as it seems, he takes a visit--bringing Lot as his tour guide. In the mean time, Abraham finds out from two angels who are also visiting Sodom that God is planning to destroy the city and negotiates a deal--if Abraham can bring 10 good people to God, he will not destroy the city. This proves harder than it looks. As God goes to Sodom, the entire city apparently erupts into a mass of promiscuous men. These men want sex, and they want it now. So they demand to have sex with the two angels, forming a mob outside of Lot's house. Lot refuses to let them have sex with the angels, but offers his daughters instead. Because, hey, if he won't let them have sex with two strangers, it's only logical that he let's them have sex with his daughters instead! So, needless to say, God is disgusted. He destroys the city, but let's Lot and his daughters live. The daughters realize his father is old and there are no other men to impregnate them, so naturally, they get their father drunk and have sex with him. I mean, what else were they to do?

Unfair punishment is very scary. Like, it is actually one of my worst fears. Imagine being in a court room--you are completely innocent--but you have no way of proving that you are innocent? Imagine you are one of the 10,000 people who are wrongfully incarcerated a year. Imagine having no control over your future, even though you are 100% innocent. To me, this is scary, maybe even scarier death. Because what is life if it is spent in a prison cell, rotting away for a crime you didn't commit? Recently there have been many stories of judges being bribed to give maximum sentences to black teenagers who commit petty crimes. This unfair punishment elicits so much fear because it is so out of my control. And, naturally, what I cannot control scares me the most.

A testiment by the mother of one of the children wrongfully sentenced under Judge Ciavarella Jr.

Ciavarella was, ironically, sentenced to 28 years in prison in 2011 for this.