Vengeance

When I heard that O.J. Simpson was in jail, I figured that it would be only a matter of time before Fred Goldman said something. And he did:

[Ron] Goldman's father, Fred Goldman, welcomed the possibility that Simpson could go to prison.

"He's believed for years, decades, that he's entitled to do anything he wants, and the legal system and society has basically agreed with him," Goldman said. "This time, hopefully, he'll get what he deserves. He'll get jail time."

This, of course, follows Fred Goldman's name in the news last week as he released If It Did It to extract money that would have otherwise gone to O.J. And no, he's not in this to make money off of his dead son. He has scores to settle.

However, as the Most Casual Observer notes:

Don't worry, Fred Goldman, all this money won't make you any less bitter.

I'll grant that I don't know the private person, only the public persona. However, that public persona is getting less and less flattering. It's funny to look at a comment made back in March. First, the context:

This is outrageous. Here is a Reuters article entitled, “Judge Orders Sale of Simpson Book About Murders”.

This time, the slime happens to be Fred Goldman. The judge in the case ordered the sale of the rights of the reprehensible Simpson tome to be sold at auction with the proceeds going to help satisfy the earlier civil court, wrongful death judgment....

Fred Goldman was front and center with his outrage about the book. But that was before he was going to get some money. How much is it worth? How much money to allow a sociopath to describe the grisly details of your son’s murder? How much to allow other, budding, demented killers a chance to study your son’s death as a textbook, Mr. Goldman.

You know, there is such a thing as a murder or killer convention. Just like a baseball card show, where athletes show up to sign things for a fee. Simpson has, reportedly, been garnering income from these freak shows. How long ’til people show up at these events with Goldman approved copies of the book for the killer to sign? What’s that worth Mr. Goldman?

OK, so maybe there was a little bit of editorial comment in that Pribek post from March 13. But there was a comment from Janus Roth posted that same day, which proves that Roth is as accurate a predictor as I am:

The point is that the Goldman’s will own the trashy book. They just didn’t want OJ (the killer) to profit from this. I can’t believe the Goldmans will ever have it published. They are just trying to stop this freak from continuing to profit from the murders.

Outeasy followed up:

Believe me. Fred Goldman has zero interest in seeing “The Book” get published, even for the back of his closet. Simply, the court is granting Fred the right to pursue any future financial gain OJ may have left via “intellectual” property rights to “The Book.” That’s all. But, “The Book” and the “Rights” are gone - sold to News Corp., who is not being sued by Fred, nor is selling “The Book.” Thankfully, there is nothing for sale here. Fred, God bless him, only wants to make certain OJ does not stand to profit. The court, is but one way to make it so.

Well, they were both wrong. And, like the old Human League song "Circus of Death," this is just gonna continue:

"I made a promise to Ron," Goldman says in a long, late-afternoon interview in his modest home, "that I would pursue this bastard. That we would never let this go."

We've seen this before:

Acts 7:59-8:3 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

59While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Acts 8
1And Saul was there, giving approval to his death.

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.

That was Saul's life, and it was the way he got his jollies. But it wasn't enough for him to round up people in Jerusalem.

Acts 9:1-2 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

1Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest 2and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

Now I'll be the first to grant that going after O.J. Simpson is not the same as going after the church of Jesus Christ. But it must be an empty life if you are letting yourself be consumed by such vengeance.

Vengeance is the Lord's job, not our own.

P.S. Whatever one may think of Denise Brown, at least she's doing something positive:

I made a promise to Nicole so that she did not die in vain, and to keep this promise I’ve dedicated all my energies to making our communities safer through education and awareness, sharing programs that work, helping pass legislation, and challenging us all to stand up for what is right. I’ve learned two things on my continuing journey, one that I’m not alone in my loss, and two that I’m not alone in my determination to make sure that the epidemic of violence does not go unanswered. I do this in Nicole’s name.

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