"...the time has come for me to ask the Almighty Creator, why He did not install some form of restriction or limitation in man's conscientiousness, to take over such decisions in moments like these."
 
My understanding of truth is that if God were to put a limit on our actions, we would be as robots; and we know full well that no true love can be expressed where there is control and dominance of one person over another, except we are dealing with children whom we have naturally, to direct and govern, but even so, always with the heart of love. 

God created man 'in His image and likeness'  What does this mean?  The omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent God created us to attain His stature of perfection in a glorious give and take relationship with Him.   We are created to be co-creators with God, so there cannot be a  limit to our actions, as this would limit our creativity.

He really took a chance.  He gave us free will for the very purpose of development -  to grow into His image and likeness - therefore He could not impose limits upon our development of personality.   Our free will was to be expressed in a principled manner, there was not supposed to be a choice between 'good' and 'evil' - the latter came to exist after the Fall.

God meant that each created being should stimulate Him in a unique way through freely developing his/her personality in keeping with the Heavenly principles.  Make no mistake about it, with this free will came also "portion of responsibility" 

What did God say to Adam and Eve?  "Do Not Eat"  This meant that if they did not eat (have sex before their perfection), all would be well.  If they ate, well we know what happened - separation from God.  It is therefore, not God, but man who has to take full responsibility for the evil that pervades the earth.  Remember, when He created,  He said to the angels, "It is good", but in Genesis 6:6,  He said, "I am sorry that I created man, because he has turned from my ways, etc."
 
Having made my point about the the undesirability of 'restriction/limitation' on man's actions, I  wish to deal with the punishment imposed.  Through the Mosaic laws,  we are familiar with "an eye for an eye' and "a tooth for a tooth". 

Throught the Fall, man lost the 'heart' of the love of God,  became separated from Him, and also from each other.  God in restoration providence had to treat them like children and gradually begin to develop their heartistic relationship with Him. 

This is the way we ourselves deal with immaturity in children.  We impose do's and don'ts and of course, punishment for  disobedience and other acts of wrongdoing.  Actually the law exists to protect the righteous from the unrighteous.  If man had not fallen God's love would have been inscribed within our heart and we would live in service to God and man on a daily basis.
 
Think about it! The Fall gave God a big headache... Spiritual people received that God kept tearing His hair out, revealing his anguish and despair, in ways we could comprehend.  If He forgives us arbitrarily, Satan would complain, saying,  "You cannot claim them, they are mine." 

But if He makes us pay a price, as we say, 'indemnify' for our evil deeds, and we do so with humble hearts, through prayer, fasting and other forms of recompence, He can buy us back - reclaim us -  from Satan, who cannot then complain.  This was the meaning of Jesus tremendous sacrifice on the cross. 

If God did not allow some form of punishment for wrongdoing (notably in the old Testament Age) the people who sinned would forever be claimed by Satan, so we have also to think that it is because of His grace and mercy that He found a way for man to be taken out of the mess he put himself in through disobeying the Word. 

I hope this explains that suffering (whatever form it takes), is a necessity for the absolution of our sins.  The greater the magnitude of the sin, the more devastating should be the punishment. 

Let me close by giving you an example from the spiritual world about Hitler.  It was revealed that a righteous man in the east who crossed over told a relative in a dream that he saw scores of people lashing and beating a man hanging from a rope in a dirty place.  Curious, he asked what was happening, and discovered that they were attacking Hitler.  A young lady who accompanied him said that this was going on all the time. 

He prayerfully said to God "Why are they doing this?"  Heavenly Father replied, "Do not worry.  How long will their resentment last?  Some day they will get rid of their pain and cease to attack him."  This brings us to another point.  Who will take responsibility for all the lives of the victims, cut short, all those deprived families left to suffer because of the overarching ambitions of one over-ambitious lunatic? 

Let us despair, Mr Noel, because mankind has lost their humanity,  (which poet was it that said, 'man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn?'), because wrong is on the throne and right seems to have lost the battle, but rest assured, do not despair, God is working and a brave new world is just around the corner.  Please go to website www.famfed.org and see what God is doing today.  
 
Mr Editor,  thank you for your excellent coverage of  Caribbean and other vital aspects of the news.  May this New Year bring you success in all fields of endeavour and enterprise.!
 
Sincerely yours,
 
Megan Anderson
Georgetown, Republic of Guyana
South America