The Prayer of Revenge
By Doug Schmidt

     With all the hate speech between liberals and conservatives and with Michael Moore, Al Franken et al. damning President Bush for the devil while Ann Coulter and Michael Savage lambaste anyone who dares to listen to Pacifica Radio, you get the impression that nobody will ever recover from the grievous wrongs each side has supposedly done the other, America, God and the world. This all-out hate leads to last-minute sexual harassment accusations in the California recall, a desperate move by Democrats. Do you think Ah-nold plots his revenge, as in "Hasta la vista, baby," delivered with an Uzi? Or is Ah-nold's success the best revenge?

     Maria Shriver should give hubby Ah-nold a copy of Doug Schmidt's The Prayer of Revenge: Forgiveness in the Face of Injustice. Perhaps she's already read it and followed the unique teachings in the wake of those last-minute allegations. By his heartfelt apologies, Ah-nold has made restitution, as Schmidt advises, before bringing his enemies to task for the conspiracy to Terminate him. And Gray Davis? Well…he comes off as badly as Nabal, who dared to cross David-as in David and Goliath. But David didn't take revenge. In fact, the slingshot-wielding hero waits until the Psalms of Rage in the King James Version of the Bible to call upon the wrath of God to smite the wicked. But this is only after David has exhausted all earthly justice, and he does not turn against his enemies or his duty to God the way the Unmerciful Servant, forgiven what was in Biblical times a California-sized debt by his master, turns against another servant (robbing Peter to pay Paul).

    One of the most interesting aspects of parental abuse survivor Doug Schmidt's spiritual exploration is a prescription for how to pray to God for revenge. (Another interesting aspect is references to entertainment such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, which he criticizes as anti-religious, and events such as Timothy McVeigh's execution.) The book's most powerful message is the necessity of forgiveness (although we will never forget September 11, 2001) and the futility of revenge. Gray Davis, take a memo.