Saturday, May 7, 2011

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day is such a great opportunity to express our love for our own Mothers.  It's also a day to reach out in compassion and empathy for those Mothers who suffer seemingly inconsolable grief for the loss of a child.

I've never been the victim of a violent crime, much less one that resulted in the death of a child or a wrongful conviction of a child.  My heart goes out to both sets of Mothers.

It is my prayer that all Mothers grieving over the loss of a child through a violent crime, and all Mothers who grieve over the wrongful conviction of a child, will find comfort in the Grace of Jesus Christ.

And for all those Mothers who grieve over a child taking up a life of crime, may you also find comfort in the Grace of Jesus Christ.

When I first learned about Laci and Scott Peterson, they were strangers to me - total strangers.  I had never been to Modesto and didn't know a single soul involved.  The closest I came to a personal involvement in this case was that I knew who Gary Condit was, and that he was from Modesto CA.  That's it.

There is one Mother in particular that I've had some occasion to observe from a distance, and that is Jackie Peterson.  This Mother has been vilified and condemned by many people who have never spent a moment in her presence, but have judged her by false and misleading media reports and simply because they hated Scott so much that the logical conclusion was to hate his Mother just as much, if not more.

Jackie is not the woman portrayed on the forums and in the media.  She's a very loving, caring, and strong woman.  I found this Mother's poem online and I think it speaks directly to Jackie.  Even though she is not my Mother, I have learned so much from her Christian example.  Thanks, Jackie, for being a Christian.


The Fruit of the Spirit
My mother is a Christian,
In every important way;
The fruit of the Holy Spirit
Is displayed in her every day.

My mother is filled with kindness,
With love and joy and peace;
Her patience and her goodness
Inspire, and never cease.

She follows our Lord Jesus
With faithfulness, and more;
She’s gentle and has self control,
She knows what prayer is for.

Thanks, Mom, for being a Christian,
And showing me how to be;
I’ll follow your example
For all eternity.
By Joanna Fuchs

7 comments:

Tricia said...

Christian Really?!? Do Christians have multiple abortions? Because you know Jackie had 4 abortions!!

Unknown said...

Why is it that people who are constantly preaching God or Jesus are the biggest whack jobs?
Anyone who thinks any justice other than death by lethal injection for Scott Peterson seriously needs their head examined.

Marlene Newell said...

To Tricia: Jackie Peterson did NOT have 4 abortions, and to spread such a vicious lie certainly is not Christian. She placed two out-of-wedlock children for adoption, a very Christian thing to do when a young unwed mother finds herself unable to care for her children.

To Gina: You, who believes the sub-standard, gossip & vengeance case against Scott Peterson, totally void of any real evidence, dares to call me a whack job and need my head examined? Your mindset is exactly what has so egregiously contaminated our Criminal Justice System -- he's guilty so don't bother me with facts and evidence. You are the whack job -- so easily manipulated by a media hell bent on selling stories, the truth be damned.

Both of you are pathetic excuses for human beings.

Lee Kramer said...

You know, Mrs. P seems like a lovely person to me just from the things I've read. Reading Mrs. R's book was a strange experience because in the stories she related about the P's, she was really negative and angry toward them, but in my opinion they weren't doing anything to merit such treatment--I mean, anything at all. What I could see of the situation is, they came up there to Modesto, helped their son and helped the Rochas try to find their daughter-in-law. When I read about Mrs. R attacking them when they had the meeting the first few days after Laci went missing, criticizing their efforts to organize a search, I just thought, what is up with this? I had the impression of two families who did not really know each other well and of one that was available and trying to help and another that was openly hostile. You had the R's saying publicly that they wouldn't think of blaming Scott and then behind the scenes they're telling the police they want to go to the media with a videotape of Scott holding a baby saying "this isn't that fun" and also buying a gun to use on him. I mean, that's all while they're telling the media, we love Scott, we're behind him totally. Then the book comes out and you find out, well, no, they really weren't. And the P's are there and they're trying to help as far as I could see. They seem like decent people who care about Laci and Scott both who happen to really believe their son is innocent. Which, when you read the trial transcripts and start to look at the evidence not presented at the trial, you start to understand how it is they could think that!!

Now you have random people sitting in front of a computer somewhere who think they know people they don't know based on the stories they've heard from other people.
And they care about it so much, I mean, I wonder if these random commenters care about things in their own life as much as they obviously have gotten themselves into a tizzy about the P's, of all things?!

The thing is that it is a really terrible, terrible crime, the kind that makes people feel helpless. I have to wonder what would happen if police got a tip from someone who could or would open the case up again. What if Scott was shown without question to be innocent?
Would he still be hated?

To each his own, but I think people who attack people they don't know who, by the way, aren't even remotely accused of any crime, really ought to take a deep breath sometime and, if you truly care about the case and about Laci so much, just read Dalton's book or the trial transcripts or the jury's book or Cyril Wecht's book..or Henry Lee's book..and see...the case is not what was advertised...there are too many questions.
The P's are cool. I think their website is just about the most impressive thing it could possibly be. I will never forget going to it one day and reading about the case and thinking, wow, these people don't sound nuts at all..this is completely rational ..these are good questions....
more people need to read it.

Anonymous said...

I couldn't have said it better myself, Burkey. I have read Dalton's book and was left feeling dumbfounded on how the police, prosecutor and jury could ignore so much evidence that points to someone else hurting Laci and not Scott. Not to mention the questions and the holes in the prosecution/police's theories that the book raises. How Scott was found guilty is beyond my comprehension.

Lee Kramer said...

Thanks Putty. You know I found a Scott Peterson Defense Team T shirt on line and bought it. That may sound like a stupid idea, or frivolous, but you would not believe the conversations it starts.
And when I tell people about the evidence that Dalton reports and that Marlene has outlined, I swear I've seen some eyes pop out of heads.
It's a really good communication tool.

Mike said...

Oh Marlene Newell, How I adore your post. Well said.