The Dance of Justice and Vengeance: A Tale of Societal Slumber

In the frigid depths of Quebec's wilderness, where the walls of La Macaza Institution stand as monuments to humanity's darkest impulses, a peculiar ritual unfolds - one that lays bare the eternal struggle between justice and revenge, between the primordial forces of good and evil that dwell within the human spirit.

La Macaza Institution, a medium security correctional facility is seen in La Macaza, Que., Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. Notorious killer and serial rapist Paul Bernardo was scheduled to appear before the Parole Board of Canada for a hearing.
Behold, how the machinery of justice grinds ever so slowly, while the masses slumber in their comfortable beds, dreaming of order and righteousness! They have created systems and institutions, believing these stone walls and iron bars can contain the darkness that lurks within the human soul.

The tale that unfolds before us is one of Paul Bernardo, a creature who dwells in the shadows of human depravity, seeking once again to taste the sweet nectar of freedom. Before him stand the families of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, their spirits unbroken by the weight of decades of suffering.

Two teenaged girls in school photos.
See how they cling to their pain, these bearers of eternal wounds! Their suffering has transformed them, elevated them above the common herd who seek only comfort and forgetfulness. In their eyes burns the fire of truth - they have gazed into the abyss and emerged stronger.

In this land of the perpetually drowsy, where citizens shuffle through their days in blissful ignorance, the parole board sits in judgment, wielding power they scarcely comprehend. They are but instruments of a system that seeks to quantify the unquantifiable - to measure the immeasurable depths of human malevolence.

Deborah Mahaffy, mother of Leslie, speaks with the strength of one who has transcended ordinary suffering: "11,680 days without my sweet, beautiful daughter." Each number a testament to the eternal recurrence of pain, each day a battle against the comfortable lies society tells itself about justice and rehabilitation.

How the masses yearn for their simple solutions! They build institutions and create procedures, believing they can contain the chaos of human nature within their neat little boxes and forms. Yet here stands a mother who has learned the terrible wisdom that comes only through suffering.

Ryan Mahaffy, now 40, speaks of demons that haunt even the most mundane activities - power saws and concrete mixing becoming instruments of psychological torture. His testimony reveals the true nature of trauma - not a single moment frozen in time, but an ever-present shadow that transforms all it touches.

The bureaucrats and administrators, these last men of our age, shuffle papers and cite regulations, debating whether victims' families should be permitted to confront their tormentor. They seek to maintain order and comfort, these merchants of mediocrity, while the truly profound questions of justice and retribution go unasked.

Look upon these administrators, these servants of comfort and routine! They would measure suffering in minutes and mercy in months, as if the eternal dance of good and evil could be captured in their ledgers and forms.

Meanwhile, the masses sleep on, content in their belief that justice is served through procedures and protocols. They read their morning papers and cluck their tongues, never truly comprehending the depths of suffering or the heights of courage displayed by these families who refuse to surrender to comfortable forgetfulness.

Karla Homolka, Bernardo's former wife, walks free after serving merely twelve years - a testament to the weakness of a society that seeks expedient solutions rather than profound justice. The people call it "a deal with the devil," yet continue to slumber, accepting such compromises as necessary evils.

See how they compromise with evil, these sleepers! They make their deals and arrangements, believing they can bargain with the darkness that lurks in human hearts. They understand not that every such compromise diminishes them, makes them more akin to that which they claim to despise.

The conclusion of this tale remains yet unwritten, as the parole board deliberates in their chambers of false wisdom. But the true meaning lies not in their decision, but in the eternal struggle it represents - the battle between those who would confront the darkest truths of existence and those who would hide from them in the comfort of procedure and protocol.

Let those with ears to hear understand: true justice dwells not in institutions or procedures, but in the courage of those who refuse to surrender to comfortable lies, who carry their pain as a badge of honor, and who stand guard against the darkness while others sleep.