Greg Ritter Succumbs to the Beast

And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. 2The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. 3One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. 4Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?"

5The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. 6He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. 8All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. Rev. 13:1b-8 (NIV)

First, I've been attempting to write a lucid, rational account of the Christian faith for my fellow Unitarian Universalists today – so while Greg may have succumbed to the Beast, I will succumb to florid Christian mythologizing.

And I do so without apology. The above, to me, is probably the most accurate description of the past year or so in the late Greg Ritter's life.

To make a very long story very short, Greg was a Scout camp counselor and an award-winning teacher who was accused of sexual contact with a child. I've known him since 1986 or so and, while he was not a close friend, he was (and remains) a friend. When the situation broke last year, I wrote a letter to him skirting the issue of guilt or innocence but affirming that he was, and would remain, my friend.

He replied to me...

Bill, I can not express in the written word how much your letter meant to me. Thank-you for your trust and friendship in my hour of need. I hold your friendship deep in my heart, and only wish that someday I can shake your hand and imbrase you in my arms and tell you in my own words. Thank-you Bill! Thank-you for being you! Greg Ritter

We never contacted each other again and last Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, before pleading in the case, he committed suicide.

I have my own guilt about failing to follow through on that initial contact but that is from the gut. My head tells me that, while it would have been good for my soul to have pursued a closer relationship with Greg, it was highly unlikely that anyone – including those who were much closer to him than I – could have made an effective intervention.

Teaching, in my opinion, was his life and – no matter how this would have resolved – his life as a middle-school teacher was over.

Whatever Greg may or may not have done, my guess is that everyone – including me and everyone else who knew him, including the alleged victim and his family – probably feels a bit crummy right now.

Because there are absolutely no winners in this situation – only losers.

The Beast spoken of in the Revelation to St. John ate Greg's lunch.

Without judging Greg (which is God's domain, not mine) I can only say that if the allegations were true, then Greg was fighting the demons within. If the allegations were not true, then Greg was fighting the demons without (which is not to say anyone did anything wrong – if the boy or his parents felt that inappropriate contact had occurred, they had a moral obligation to report it to authorities, even if the ultimate situation was determined to be either innocent or some very bad judgment on Greg's account regarding text message 'jokes' sent to the youngster.

Either way, the Beast ate Greg's lunch and – to the extent that the world needs people like Greg, which I think it does – it ate the world's lunch.

I believe in God revealed in Jesus Christ crucified.

That means, I believe in God's hidden rule even in the heart of darkness.

What Greg failed to see in his despair, but what we – if we are to honor his memory - must see, is that God has chosen to meet us, in disguise, in the darkest areas of our lives.

Whether the darkness is exterior to us (as in the Holocaust) or interior to us (as in pedophilia, anti-social personality disorder, alcoholism, gambling addiction or – for that matter – enslavement to financial or career success), it is in the broken areas of our lives that God has chosen to most clearly (if ironically) reveal his authority over the power of death in our lives.

To quote Jesus Seminar scholar, priest and poet Edward Beutner, "God is nowhere absent, everywhere hidden."

Whatever Greg's guilt or innocence may be, God in Christ will stand vigil over his grave until all things are revealed and renewed in the great Day of the Lord.

In God's one-sided contest with the Beast, God proves God's sovereignty by giving the Beast the first round.

Bill Bekkenhuis
Bethlehem, PA