I have been going back over all of this in my mind since Wednesday night.
I wanted to see if I could get my thoughts in some semblance of order in the written form. I keep going back to the debate that the authors were having over whether Cain was punished by God or being given His grace. To begin with, I agree with what was said in the video about God not being upset with Cain's offering itself - He knew that Cain's heart wasn't in his offering and that's why He didn't accept it and told Cain to straighten up and fly right, so to speak. When God made Cain leave his family and the area he had known, it was as punishment, but in marking him, he was given protection from others. I think he was given both punishment and protection. (Thanks for letting me get all that out of my head!!)

That sounds good Kathy. The video made me stop, think, and look at the story from angles I had never considered before.
Cindy

Kathy I thought about it to. When you look at it from a theological perspective, I think God did extend grace to Cain, giving him another opportunity to get his heart right, so to speak. If you think about it, looking at today's society, could the first murder be the foundation for all the strife and indifference we are living in today, good vs evil and so on? Being good and pure in heart certainly doesn't carry in weight in this present world.

Phyllis, I think you might be right. It is so sad to look at all the people that don't care and that have such indifference to what goes on around them. It seems as if more people have less of a conscience than they used to.