O.K. credit where it is due....
I’m obviously the first (o.k. maybe the second on this board) to jump on any stories of religious hypocricy and double speak……
…and when that gunman killed all those Amish kids a few years back I smugly pointed out how there’s no way all the evangelical Christian types with their never ending bloodlust and eye for an eye BS would do the same.
Well, the wife of that Pastor who was killed a few weeks back has pretty much said she forgives the guy who killed her husband and isn’t necessarily calling for the justice system to kill him or eye for an eye or any of that (even if not coming out against that per se). So yeah, I don’t get the whole “praying for him….finding jesus, etc.” aspect of it. But since I try not to be a hypocrite myself as much as I possibly can (which isn’t always that easy) I’ll at least try and give credit where it’s due and point out how comendable it is for someone in her situation to practice what they preach in terms of exhibiting some degree of forgiveness and tolerance and sympathy even in the face of unspeakable tragedy.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/16/earlyshow/main4868070.shtml
Comments
Saying you forgive your husband’s murderer and hoping he learn from the experience is definitely commendable and I wish more people had that attitude in the face of such tragedy, but parts of this strike me as being sort of crazy-pants. The calm, almost blissful look on her face, not being angry… this isn’t a natural human reaction.
John said:Saying you forgive your husband’s murderer and hoping he learn from the experience is definitely commendable and I wish more people had that attitude in the face of such tragedy, but parts of this strike me as being sort of crazy-pants. The calm, almost blissful look on her face, not being angry… this isn’t a natural human reaction.
Isn’t that essentially the point of all religion, to quell every natural reaction a human being might have to external stimuli? This chick is hella indoctrinated. That’s right, hella.
Oh, I totally agree with that. But my point is that I complain when Christians act explicitly against the teachings of Jesus and exhibit bloodlust, and revenge, and completely ignore his message of forgiveness and compassion for the sinner. So when someone doesn’t do that I just think I’d be a hypocrite to not give that person some sort of respect and credit. Like I said, I still don’t get it and I still think the whole concept is creepy and foreign to me. But at least she’s walking the walk and talking the talk as far as the whole forgiveness and compassion thing goes.
Understood Kev, I was just responding to Hutch’s “this isn’t a natural human reaction” comment. If you are blindly following the word of some dude who may or may not have existed, and who’s rules don’t seem to make sense in the context of the world in which you live, then you aren’t acting naturally human in my opinion. Good on this lady for being so blind to reality that she can forge ahead even through the worst times.