• Welcome
    • Purpose
    • Statement of Faith
    • Prayer Request
  • My Apology
  • TESTIMONY
    • English
    • Chinese Translation
    • Dutch Translation
    • French Translation
    • German Translation
    • Italian Translation
    • Portuguese Translation
    • Russian Translation
    • Spanish Translation
    • Turkish Translation
  • READY OR NOT...
  • My Story - Videos
    • My Life Story Video - "In His Own Words"
    • Video Interviews
    • Written Interviews
    • Son of Hope Gospel Tracts
  • Journal
    • 2023 >
      • *January 2023
    • 2022 >
      • January 2022
      • February 2022
      • March 2022
      • April 2022
      • May 2022
      • June 2022
      • July 2022
      • August 2022
      • September 2022
      • October 2022
      • November 2022
      • December 2022
    • 2021 >
      • January 2021
      • February 2021
      • March 2021
      • April 2021
      • May 2021
      • June 2021
      • July 2021
      • August 2021
      • September 2021
      • October 2021
      • November 2021
      • December 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017-2005
    • 2004-2003
  • Updates
  • For Parents, Teens, and Students
    • General Advice for Parents
    • Advice For Troubled Teens
    • Stopping Teen Violence
    • School Projects
    • Jailhouse Interview
    • A Letter to David from Youth Minister Dan Bailey
    • Suicide is Everyone's Business
    • What is Prison All About?
  • For Satanists
    • A Letter to a Satanist
    • Satan's Bible
    • Famous Satanists' Last Words - Quotes
    • Carl Sartor's Story
    • A Satanist Has a Vision
    • Jailhouse Interview
  • A Letter to a Soldier
  • Ministry Tools
  • Jesus Christ, the True Treasure and Pearl of Great Price!
  • Insights and Miscellaneous
    • A Letter to North Shore Baptist Church
    • Parole Hearing Transcript 2016
    • He Knows Your Name
  • Inspirational Testimonies
  • Friends
  • Contact
  • Welcome
    • Purpose
    • Statement of Faith
    • Prayer Request
  • My Apology
  • TESTIMONY
    • English
    • Chinese Translation
    • Dutch Translation
    • French Translation
    • German Translation
    • Italian Translation
    • Portuguese Translation
    • Russian Translation
    • Spanish Translation
    • Turkish Translation
  • READY OR NOT...
  • My Story - Videos
    • My Life Story Video - "In His Own Words"
    • Video Interviews
    • Written Interviews
    • Son of Hope Gospel Tracts
  • Journal
    • 2023 >
      • *January 2023
    • 2022 >
      • January 2022
      • February 2022
      • March 2022
      • April 2022
      • May 2022
      • June 2022
      • July 2022
      • August 2022
      • September 2022
      • October 2022
      • November 2022
      • December 2022
    • 2021 >
      • January 2021
      • February 2021
      • March 2021
      • April 2021
      • May 2021
      • June 2021
      • July 2021
      • August 2021
      • September 2021
      • October 2021
      • November 2021
      • December 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017-2005
    • 2004-2003
  • Updates
  • For Parents, Teens, and Students
    • General Advice for Parents
    • Advice For Troubled Teens
    • Stopping Teen Violence
    • School Projects
    • Jailhouse Interview
    • A Letter to David from Youth Minister Dan Bailey
    • Suicide is Everyone's Business
    • What is Prison All About?
  • For Satanists
    • A Letter to a Satanist
    • Satan's Bible
    • Famous Satanists' Last Words - Quotes
    • Carl Sartor's Story
    • A Satanist Has a Vision
    • Jailhouse Interview
  • A Letter to a Soldier
  • Ministry Tools
  • Jesus Christ, the True Treasure and Pearl of Great Price!
  • Insights and Miscellaneous
    • A Letter to North Shore Baptist Church
    • Parole Hearing Transcript 2016
    • He Knows Your Name
  • Inspirational Testimonies
  • Friends
  • Contact
AriseandShine.org

April 2005

Being Lied To

4/16/2005

 
Several days ago I received a letter from a young man by the name of Jake*. He was boasting to me about his big collection of serial killer cards and his fascination with such individuals...
Jake said that he reads a lot of books and loves to watch movies about serial killers, and that he has amassed many facts about them from the Internet.

My heart was heavy as I read his letter. He's obviously deluded by the media's portrayals of those who commit these kinds of crimes.

I seldom get letters like Jake's. But on occasion people like him do write to ask questions or to express their fascination with this subject. Usually I never reply. With this man, though, I did.

I tried to explain to Jake that hurting another person is a horrible thing. It's not exciting or fun. Rather it is sick and evil.

It's a nightmare with lots of grief and pain, I said to him, not only for the families of the victims, but for the ones doing the harm.

Jake needed to know, too, that I have a tremendous amount of sorrow for what I did at a time when my own life was out of control. That I had no right to take people's lives, and how I would do anything if I could undo it.

To me this man appears to be living in a Hollywood-type fantasy world in which killing someone is portrayed as being of no big deal, and that it's cool.

I believe that when someone watches certain crime shows on television or in the movies, it is easy to get a false impression. So I tried to bust through Jake's immature and absurd ideas by telling him that inmates basically lead broken and defeated lives. We struggle to survive, and we must endure the day-to-day monotony of prison life.

I explained to Jake that being locked up is hard. That I myself have nearly twenty-eight years of confinement, and I have to live in a cage like an animal.

He needed to be told to look beyond his fascination with mass murderers and face reality.

I was firm with Jake, but I was kind. I hope I was able to help him to see that his present views are foolish.

D.B.



*Jake is not his real name.

Comments are closed.

    Author

    David Berkowitz
    Copyright © AriseandShine.Org

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly