Karma

I don't know if I really believe in the idea of karma. Far too often I have seen horrible things happen to good people, and wonderful things happen to horrible people. I love the idea that "Cheaters never prosper", but it seems that far too often, they do. Usually I can keep myself from dwelling on this kind of thing, but sometimes the thoughts of how unjust life can be get stuck in my head and I have trouble of thinking about anything else.

When I was in high school, someone I respected and cared about had his life almost ruined by false allegations against him. I knew the allegations weren't true, and so did most other people. That didn't matter in the end, though - he ended up settling with the person who was making the accusations and then he moved away to start a new life elsewhere. I still think about him, and I hope he ended up happy, wherever he went. Later, I learned that the woman had made similar allegations against several other people over the years - both before and after the incident I had known about. I believe she benefited greatly from settlements each time. Either this young woman was a perpetual victim with unbelievably bad luck or she was a scheming opportunist who enjoyed ruining people's lives. I know which one I think she was. I hope that wherever she is now she's living the kind of life she deserves.

This sort of thing always makes me furious. Far too often all it takes is a whisper of an allegation and the accused is immediately assumed to be guilty. No one cares about any possible evidence. Just look at the Duke case a few years ago. It didn't matter that there was plenty of evidence that showed that those boys probably were not guilty. As soon as they were accused they were considered Guilty, and nothing they could say or do was going to change that. Those boys' lives will never be the same, and all because someone made false allegations against them. Of course we know the truth now, but still they are remembered for that case and none of their other accomplishments. Many people still consider their accuser to be the victim, even though the boys were the real victims in that case.

I've heard so many stories lately about people who have been accused of things, and everyone assumes they are guilty despite a complete lack of evidence. I'd love to think that these stories were the exceptions, but instead it seems to me that they are the norm.

Don't get me wrong - I know there are bad people out there. I know that often, the allegations are true. But I hate the fact that with any sort of "sex crime", people are always assumed to be guilty until proven innocent. That's not how our society is supposed to work. I don't know what the answer is. Obviously we want the real victims to feel they can come forward. We don't want them to assume that they will be disbelieved when they tell their stories. On the other hand, simply being accused of a crime shouldn't ruin someone's reputation for the rest of his life, and too often now that's exactly what happens - even when the accused turns out to be innocent.

I would like to think that both possibilities would be considered when allegations are brought against someone: Maybe they are guilty. Maybe they are innocent. I would like to believe that sympathy would not always lie with the accuser. I would like to believe that it wouldn't come down to a "He said, she said" situation but that people would consider the evidence involved.

Mostly, I would like to believe in karma. I hope that those who are guilty end up suffering far more than those that they victimized, and that they get to experience more fear and pain than their victims felt. But I also hope that those who accuse others falsely will reap their own rewards. . . I hope that they suffer far more than they would have if their allegations had been true. I hope that they live in their own personal Hell for every day of the rest of their lives, and that eventually the rest of the world sees them for what they truly are. I hope that the day comes when no one will believe a word that they say, and they have to live with the knowledge that it's their own fault they have to live that way.