“I guess the question Joe is when Jesus said to “pray for your enemies,” which enemy did he say to not pray for?”
So said a friend of mine, who is a lot more religious than I am, when I shared a recent news story with him following the mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado, July 20, where during a memorial service July 22 for Gordon Cowden, one of 12 victims killed that night, pastor Robert Gelinas asked the congregation to pray for shooter James Holmes.
"Only God is the righteous judge," Gelinas said. "Only God knows how to blend justice and mercy and grace in perfect balance. We lift this man up before God, and say, 'God, do what you need to do in this situation.'"
“What this pastor did should not be the exception but the rule,” my friend said. “Remember, while we live in this world, we are not of this world. Not easy being a Catholic.”
“Revenge is a dish best served cold.”
Like everyone else in the country who celebrated in front of the White House and at Ground Zero last May, I too took to the social networking world of Facebook and blogged my glee writing of Osama bin Laden’s bloody demise at the hands of our armed forces.
If I were going to do any praying for Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach who was found guilty in June on 45 of 48 counts of child sexual abuse, it would be to hope he’d finally one day realize while spending life in prison that what he did to those ten young boys, if not more, was wrong. I know that’s never going to happen whether I pray or not.
Now I am wondering if those of us who celebrated bin Laden’s death, told Sandusky to “burn in Hell” as he was led off to jail following his guilty verdict, want James Holmes to be brought before a firing squad and leave comments at the end of news stories offering up even more graphic details of what they’d like to see done to the killer, if maybe it’s us who are wrong and it’s the ones who actually forgive the shooter are right regardless of the many questions from upset readers chiming in writing, “What if it had been your six-year-old daughter who was killed that night? Would you be so forgiving?”
It’s so much easier to spout off hateful vengeful comments than it is to forgive. Just ask 28-year-old Pierce O’Farrill who was shot three times in the July 20 shooting.
“I forgive him with all my heart,” O’Farrill said in an interview with The Denver Post. “When I saw him (Holmes) in his hearing, I felt nothing but sorrow for him—he’s just a lost soul right now. I want to see him some time. The first thing I want to say to him is ‘I forgive you’ and the next is, ‘Can I pray for you?’”
"This is going to be hard for people to understand, but I feel sorry for him," O’Farrill told The Christian Post. "When I think what that soul must be like to have that much hatred and that much anger in his heart- what every day must be like. I can't imagine getting out of bed every morning and having that much anger and hatred for people that he undoubtedly has. I'm not angry at him. I'll pray for him."
Justin Davis, who was also inside theater 9 when the shootings happened but was unharmed said in an interview with ABC News that it’s his faith that suggests Holmes deserves forgiveness.
“We should just forgive, and you don’t know what he’s going through,” Davis said. “You don’t know why he did it.”
Inside the Peñasquitos Lutheran Church in San Diego where Holmes’ parents attend, signs are posted inside saying, “Prayers for those affected by the Colorado tragedy” and “Prayers for the Holmes family” according to an article on The Huffington Post.
Then there is Byron Thomas’ post on YouTube which was posted on CNN’s website asking the country to not call for Holmes to receive the death penalty.
“We are going to have to show James Holmes mercy, forgiveness, and LOVE. These are the same things Jesus commanded us to do and what he showed us when he died on the cross for ALL of our sins,” Thomas said. “My heart goes out toward those families and because this was nevertheless tragic. I just believe we should let the court system handle it and not protest for James Holmes to get the death penalty. As a Christian I just don’t believe in the death penalty.”
I suppose, though, the fact that I am even blogging about this realizing that maybe I should not only pray for the victims but also for the ones who have committed the most heinous of crimes is a good start, even if I don’t have the strength to forgive.
In some sick twisted way, tortured souls like James Holmes are hurting inside. We just don’t know how much and why. I don’t really think we’ll ever know.
©8/6/12
So said a friend of mine, who is a lot more religious than I am, when I shared a recent news story with him following the mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado, July 20, where during a memorial service July 22 for Gordon Cowden, one of 12 victims killed that night, pastor Robert Gelinas asked the congregation to pray for shooter James Holmes.
"Only God is the righteous judge," Gelinas said. "Only God knows how to blend justice and mercy and grace in perfect balance. We lift this man up before God, and say, 'God, do what you need to do in this situation.'"
“What this pastor did should not be the exception but the rule,” my friend said. “Remember, while we live in this world, we are not of this world. Not easy being a Catholic.”
I admit I am not a very religious person and haven’t been for a while, though I do in times of trouble recite the Hail Mary and often the prayer to St. Jude who is the patron saint of lost souls, my being one of them.When it comes to the many acts of evil I have read and seen perpetrated by people as reported in the news and the Internet on a daily basis, one of the first things I say to myself is my favorite line from "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" (1982).
“Revenge is a dish best served cold.”
Like everyone else in the country who celebrated in front of the White House and at Ground Zero last May, I too took to the social networking world of Facebook and blogged my glee writing of Osama bin Laden’s bloody demise at the hands of our armed forces.
If I were going to do any praying for Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach who was found guilty in June on 45 of 48 counts of child sexual abuse, it would be to hope he’d finally one day realize while spending life in prison that what he did to those ten young boys, if not more, was wrong. I know that’s never going to happen whether I pray or not.
I won’t lie to you. The first question I asked upon hearing about James Holmes’ shooting spree was where is Paul Kersey when you need him, in reference to the New York vigilante character Charles Bronson played in "Death Wish" (1974) and four forgettable follow-ups throughout the 1980s and mid-90s. If only someone with a license to carry a firearm had been inside theater 9 that night. I was so upset by what Holmes did to those people that I refused to name him in my July 21, 2012 blog I wrote.Now having read a few opinions from those injured in the shooting to those who say we should not only pray for the victims but for Holmes as well and not give him the death penalty has given me pause.
Now I am wondering if those of us who celebrated bin Laden’s death, told Sandusky to “burn in Hell” as he was led off to jail following his guilty verdict, want James Holmes to be brought before a firing squad and leave comments at the end of news stories offering up even more graphic details of what they’d like to see done to the killer, if maybe it’s us who are wrong and it’s the ones who actually forgive the shooter are right regardless of the many questions from upset readers chiming in writing, “What if it had been your six-year-old daughter who was killed that night? Would you be so forgiving?”
It’s so much easier to spout off hateful vengeful comments than it is to forgive. Just ask 28-year-old Pierce O’Farrill who was shot three times in the July 20 shooting.
“I forgive him with all my heart,” O’Farrill said in an interview with The Denver Post. “When I saw him (Holmes) in his hearing, I felt nothing but sorrow for him—he’s just a lost soul right now. I want to see him some time. The first thing I want to say to him is ‘I forgive you’ and the next is, ‘Can I pray for you?’”
"This is going to be hard for people to understand, but I feel sorry for him," O’Farrill told The Christian Post. "When I think what that soul must be like to have that much hatred and that much anger in his heart- what every day must be like. I can't imagine getting out of bed every morning and having that much anger and hatred for people that he undoubtedly has. I'm not angry at him. I'll pray for him."
Justin Davis, who was also inside theater 9 when the shootings happened but was unharmed said in an interview with ABC News that it’s his faith that suggests Holmes deserves forgiveness.
“We should just forgive, and you don’t know what he’s going through,” Davis said. “You don’t know why he did it.”
Inside the Peñasquitos Lutheran Church in San Diego where Holmes’ parents attend, signs are posted inside saying, “Prayers for those affected by the Colorado tragedy” and “Prayers for the Holmes family” according to an article on The Huffington Post.
Then there is Byron Thomas’ post on YouTube which was posted on CNN’s website asking the country to not call for Holmes to receive the death penalty.
“We are going to have to show James Holmes mercy, forgiveness, and LOVE. These are the same things Jesus commanded us to do and what he showed us when he died on the cross for ALL of our sins,” Thomas said. “My heart goes out toward those families and because this was nevertheless tragic. I just believe we should let the court system handle it and not protest for James Holmes to get the death penalty. As a Christian I just don’t believe in the death penalty.”
I don’t know if I could find it in my heart to forgive James Holmes. I have come to terms that mass shootings could and have often happened once too often in the workplace, in restaurants, in our nation’s schools, on college campuses and at places of worship. I know shooting incidents often happen inside movie theaters, but I never expected it to be the equivalent of the carnage that happened July 20.As someone whose favorite pastime is often spending it inside a dark theater every few weeks, seeing movies was that last place of refuge where I believed for at least a few hours I could get away from the horrors of the outside world and where I would never have to worry about someone walking in ready to go postal. Now thanks to Holmes those days are over much the way we must forever be on our guard when flying thanks to the 9/11 hijackers.
I suppose, though, the fact that I am even blogging about this realizing that maybe I should not only pray for the victims but also for the ones who have committed the most heinous of crimes is a good start, even if I don’t have the strength to forgive.
In some sick twisted way, tortured souls like James Holmes are hurting inside. We just don’t know how much and why. I don’t really think we’ll ever know.
©8/6/12
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