Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. - Romans 12:19

Why should God have all the fun? - Tony Forza

The myth of eternal punishment not only serves to keep the gullible in line, it also pacifies them when they are wronged. There is no need for you to settle a score, God will take care of these people for you. What comes around, goes around, everyone gets their karmic reward in the end.

Bullshit.

The belief in divine retribution or cosmic justice may mollify the masses, but when an innocent population accepts this lie, it also gives the bastards of the world the green light to scam, offend, and harm innocents with little fear of negative consequences. There is no true justice but that which we make ourselves.

The world is so full of petty slights and annoyances, seeking revenge for every offense or injury is impractical and counter-productive. Your blood pressure is best served by letting the insignificant transgressions slide, and attempting to understand the point of view of those who happen to offend. The practical result of allowing yourself to become obsessed and consumed with hatred over a petty slight equates to granting someone who hates you control over your life.

But not all offenses are easily forgettable. It is particularly painful when someone you trust or respect uses their position and influence to intentionally hurt you, or when someone you despise costs you something, or someone, you hold dear. In some extreme cases, you may find your sense of self worth and pride so injured, or your sense of loss so great, that you cannot bear the thought of the perpetrator moving on with his life unpunished.

It is these times when it may be appropriate to take matters into your own hands to settle the score. When and how to revenge is a personal decision only you can make.

In the arena of vengeance, the weak and the powerless often find their lack of status to be, paradoxically, an exploitable advantage. Whereas the powerful may use the resources they control to directly harm those that they hate, their status and possessions also make them vulnerable to attack by others. The more you have, the more you have to lose.

When she finds herself wronged, an anonymous avenger may strike back from the shadows, without providing her enemy the ability to return the favor. This is best done months, or even years, after the initial offense. Should the mark learn the cause of her grief, she may strike back in kind, or may initiate legal proceedings or even violence. If she finds herself the victim of a series of catastrophes without ever learning the cause, she will spend considerable time worrying and looking over her shoulder, even after the active retribution has ended.

A good revenge scheme should always be untraceable, and at a minimum, psychologically unsettling to your enemy. The collection of intelligence is helpful, as any piece of information may be incorporated into an attack. The more you know about your enemy, the easier it is to devastate her life. An expert scheme may even pit two marks against each other, providing double the pleasure as the revenge practitioner's enemies do her work for her.

The multiplier effect should also be considered in preparing a vengeance action plan. It does little good to spend five hours of your own time to create fifteen minutes' worth of aggravation for your enemy. A better plan involves minimal effort and expense on your part, but creates days, months, or years of anguish for your target.

For those interested in learning an array of specific revenge techniques, a Google search for the term “Revenge Tactics” will provide many hours of quality entertainment and thought-provoking reading for the revenge afficionado.