In the Torah, also known as the Pentateuch, the Book of Leviticus does not teach that the brother of a murderer becomes indebted to the victim. Likewise, I never claimed that you owed me your life. When you repaid what was owed, plus what you believed was fair, I told you that your obligation to me was absolved. You owed me nothing.
You created a claim I never made: that you owed me your life, and therefore that your family was somehow indebted to me. From that false premise, you placed your sister in a position where she was expected to help satisfy a debt that was never hers. I find that deeply wrong. No family member should be made responsible for another person’s obligation real or invented.
What more serious is that you swore before God that you would help me. You gave your word in God’s name, then failed to honor it and involved your sister in a situation she was not prepared to handle. That is not merely a personal failure. It is a spiritual failure. You did not simply mislead me; you invoked God’s name while doing so in violation of the third commandment.
Because I trusted your word, I have suffered serious consequences. The collateral damage is approximately $15,000, including:
$6,000 in vehicle repair costs
$7,000 in lost camera equipment and related items
$750 in lawyer retainer fees
$350 for towing
Loss of transportation to work
Strained family relationships due to missed and rescheduled Mother’s Day plans
I do not believe this is God punishing me. I am saying this is the consequence of trusting someone who gave his word and did not keep it. Sin causes damage beyond the person who commits it. It affects everyone nearby.
I do not expect you to pay all of this collateral damage as a debt. But I do expect you to understand the seriousness of what happened. If you want me to believe that you are genuine, then your words alone are no longer enough. You will need to provide real collateral or some concrete assurance, because your word has been broken.
As a Christian, I am discouraged from swearing oaths, especially by God’s name, because I know I am fallible and may err. That is why I try to let my yes mean yes and my no mean no. For things I can do, I say yes. For things I cannot do, I say no. My word is my honor, and I will not dishonor myself by making promises I cannot keep.
Unfortunately I have to finally grow a backbone and make this statement to a family that has been cordial to me.
لقد أدركتُ ما هي العادات السائدة في ثقافتكم؛ وأنا ضيفٌ في داركم، وهو أمرٌ أكنُّ له الامتنان. غير أنكم أنتم الضيوف في بلادي، وعليكم بالتالي احترام عادات شعبي وعادات هذا البلد الذي أسسه الأوروبيون.
If it comes to that I can meet her in town, but I'm convinced now that he's just a control freak or something.
Deadass they need six or so months for this to cool down, I'm not even going to text my mother unfortunately unless he specifically apologizes. Which likely he won't.
He was using such profane language to insult me next to my mother. Anyone can insult me that's fine. But you won't curse at my mother for hearing my crisis.
I genuinely do believe all that has happened for me the past week is indeed God's plan for my life.
All of this has just galvanized my intentions of leaving this country. My family were the only one's objecting, now that they forsake me I truly have no reason to stay.
Unfortunately I have been rebuked by my step father and am now estranged from my family.
All I said was I would be late to meeting them, that was enough for my step father to disown me All I wanted to do was give a gift to my mother because I missed mother's day, I am not allowed because I would not be able to make the original time I stated and when asked to extend the window I was denied.
Mastodon instance accountI'm pretty busy and my notifications can be typically full, I'll try to get to yours when I can.FOSS enthusiast, Former Professional Sysadmin, current NEET and Florida ManYour resident Deresute+Million Live+Starlit Season MV & touhou doujin circle enjoyer and #gymrat🇯🇵🤝:florida:Life is about entertaining Mr. GodBig Tech badSocial Media badGroupthink badGovernment badProprietary Software bad2hu and im@s goodAll of my photographs are licensed CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 unless specified otherwise