If You Dance, You Have To Pay The Fiddler

Many years ago, when JFK was killed. Malcolm X said that it was just the chickens coming home to roost. We are seeing a similar thing in American culture now.
Many political leaders, over the last many years, have been found with nasty skeletons in their closet, including our current leader and some of our recent ones. Scandal is the order of the day. The entertainment industry is awash in sex scandals. Police forces have more than a few shady officers as does the FBI and the CIA and most any other combination f letters you can name. Churches are not exempt either.
I can guarantee one thing. What we hear is just the tip of a very dark ice burg, These people are very adept at hiding their improprieties and, being the shrewd folks they are, realize that some issues are going to get out. The minor incidents are slipped out and, while disturbing, draw attention away from more scandalous behavior,
Now, you may ask, what does that have to do with the average American? Plenty. We support these folks. We joke about misbehavior. If they line our pockets, we turn a deaf ear. We vote in politicians who we know are as crooked as a dog's hind leg.. We pay good money to attend entertainment events starring people with horrific personal habits. Worse, we often emulate these people/
Our Creator loves us. Why? I sometimes wonder, but therein lies Kierkegaard's existential problem. But, that aside, The Creator's mercy is tempered by justice. The New Testament scholar, James Dominick Croissan once wrote that justice without compassion in horrific, but compassion without justice is inane. We are forgiven our sins, but we have to pay a price. I know from personal experience that , while yes, I am forgiven, I have had to pat a price for my misbehavior. Hopefully, that debt is now almost redeemed. This is the way the Cosmos works. If that makes you unhappy, so be it.
Forgive. Certainly and always you must do that. Judge not, in the sense that you must not abandon anyone and must always be ready to help (also, only God knows enough about anyone to see the whole picture and cast an appropriate judgement). But, do not continue supporting bad behavior. And, especially, stop joining in.
If you dance you have to pay the fiddler and, if it is the devil doing the fiddling, you have to pay the devil's price. Trust me, that is a high price.