Charles Manson died

He has gone to the great hun...

Never mind that. 

There is nothing I can say. 

That won't f up my own karma. So I'll say something else instead. 

He has troubled me my entire life and I never had anything to do with him. 

Confession: One day I went into my older brother's bedroom and scanned the books in his headboard bookcase, as you do. There were the customary science fictions, the ones that won the Hugo Awards and Nebula Awards, Herbert, Asimove, Huxley, Orwell, and such, and I thought, goodness my older brother sure is well read. Then I saw Helter Skelter and my blood froze right there. 

I honestly couldn't believe that Barry would bring such a book into our house. 

Now how puritanical is that? 

I objected to my brother bringing evil into our home. Its vibes freaked me out. I left.

Then came back. 

Left again. Came back again. Left again and came back again. I was more troubled than I first imagined. I had to get rid of the book. So I stole his book and threw it away and I never told anyone except you. Unless I already told you this, that could happen. I never told him. 

I don't like his stinking book. 

And not just in the kitchen trash bin, out of the house to the outside garbage bin. Under the cover of darkness. And he never did ask, "Hey, where's my book?"

Then later I read Dianne Lake's book, Member of the Family. Why I did that I don't know. And the nightmares started up all over again. 

For you see, I am an honest to God puss about bloody evil and sin and my tender protected soul just cannot take it. All the dudes at work were blabbing about The Exorcist so  I went to a matinée showing and I walked out of the theater at the part where the doctors stick a frighteningly thick needle into the troubled girl's neck then stick another needle inside the first needle deeper into her neck and blood squirts out of her neck. I got right up and left. Into the light and the comforting warmth of the sun. I couldn't take it. 

I'm all, "I'M NOT HAVING THAT!"

Then at work I told all the dudes they're out of the g.d minds. 

Here. I made a Charles Manson is so evil that even in death there's no place for him.

One time I went to an outdoor summer party. The host and hostess set up a tent canopy in their back yard. There were a lot of people attending. The couple had just bought a new house. Everyone filled a plate of BBQ, potato salad, grilled bratwurst, watermelon and the like. Then, under the canopy the people divided naturally into two separate his and her groups. They were sitting nearest the people they felt the most comfortable instead of mixing and mingling. 

At that time, I had this way of blurting out the first thought that arose to my mind, unedited, when there developed an unnatural silence, to break it. So when that silence developed under the canopy that summer day, I was seated between the two groups and I said, "This is a bit weird, but it's been dominating my thoughts lately." 

"If you believe in God, and if you believe that God cares for all his children, no matter what, do you think that when Hitler is faced with his maker does God say, "You go straight to hell. You are lost." Or does God think, "you know, I can work with that."

Now, that sounds stupid when I write it, but back then it turned out to be a great question. The whole tent exploded with opinion. The group was not split into two tribes anymore. They all basically agreed that God can work with Hitler to save him. It gave them a chance to express their own theological thoughts. I don't recall anyone thinking otherwise and that really did surprise me. Talk about breaking the uncomfortable silence, that really worked.