Russian writer, Dostoyevsky, claimed this to be true. He felt bigger sinners had more empathy to offer sinners in the world.
I think Dostoyevsky was right... We can only draw off our own experiences. That's why people who didn't do the whole prodigal son thing and have lived a fairly straight path often don't acknowledge the evil one and his deeds.
The path i took led me deep behind enemy lines to a place of darkness... Thank God for shining the light on my life
Someone who stays an upright Christian all their lives. Follows the rules, never strays. Will they have the same compassion for a sinner? I am doubting it. So maybe Dostoyevsky is right. So our sinful phase is a necessary phase in our life. Part of our maturing. Part of our growth.
So what about the majority of people who never reach a rock bottom of sin? That go through life relatively sinless except maybe spiritual pride. I'm thinking of the regular Churchgoer here. They spend their whole life abiding the Commandments. Controversy free lives. Possibly looked up to in the community . Highly respected.
Dostoyevsky might be saying that such people haven't plumbed the depths of their soul. They have never suffered crippling guilt. They don't know what utter humiliation and desperation are like. To feel like the absolute dregs of society. To feel suicidal. To have no one to turn to.
Im not sure that it is a necessary part of life... I certainly don't recommend people fail in their life and relationships, live a life of sin, become suicidal, commit crimes, walk away from God towards the evil one, etc...
We're all individuals who have had different experiences in life and taken different paths...
Is there only one wide road to God or many narrow paths?
And moreover, I think he has a special place for big sinners. From absolute rejection of God to absolute surrender. People get fed up with sin. They have no one else to turn. There is no other alternative. God is their answer.
I would go a step further and say that people generally lack empathy for prison inmates... You just don't know unless you've been in... The state of Victoria has an especially corrupt justice system and totalitarian police force... The prison is full of people who have broken a law that isn't a criminal offence like driving offences, overdue fines/bills, etc... That's not right, prison is for criminals... There are currently political prisoners being held here for protesting against the government...
Some of the practices here are inhumane... For example; when you get sentenced in court they take you to the jail cells at the back or underneath. They hold you there until a prison vehicle comes to take you away... The cells under the courthouse in the city is known as "the yellow submarine". Cold concrete cells behind steel bars, a thin plastic mattress, a sheet and a pillow. The toilet has no seat and is utter filth, there is no shower and the food is the cheapest microwave meal u can find...
The state defies human rights by not allowing a minimum of one hour a day outside... Ive watched documentaries of the worse prisons in the world for the worse criminals in the world and they all have one hour outside... Its defined in the Geneva convention I think or the Nuremberg code... This together with solitary confinement is enough to break a person and send them insane... And i know a person who spent 9 nights in there and another that spent 14 nights in there... No fresh air... No sunlight... No one deserves that, not even the worse of criminals...
See how Satan waited for 40 days before trying to tempt Jesus... He attacks us when we are weak... And so he torments the inmate trying to build on his bitterness and resentment... This is why many offenders will repeat... But God's ministry is huge in prison... He is easy to find in there, patiently waiting for someone to come to Him in repentance...
Anyway... It is what it is
