When I read news articles on-line about people who are being accused of, charged with or convicted of a wrong doing, I usually follow down to the bottom where people post comments about the article. What amazes me is the amount of unforgiving, and lack of compassion or empathy there is in the world. Yes, the wrong should be convicted ( I won't go into "proper" punishment), but the writers spew such vile hatred, it shocks me. This is especially true if a victim of a crime, regardless of the crime, is a child. It's as if adults start losing value for every year they go beyond 18.
Now I don't know if it's a tendency for unforgiving people to post comments more than those who are forgiving, or that there are less forgiving people in the world. Now I'm not advocating that we just forgive and forget for everything, but sometimes there are extenuating circumstances that we don't know about as readers of news articles. There are past wrongs, social pressures, financial pressures, psychological pressures, timing issues, or whatever that drive people to do some things that others would not imagine themselves doing...until they have walked in that person's shoes. Do these things make the "perpetrators" innocent or right? No, but our Lord is compassionate even unto those that have gravely sinned against Him...you know, like me!
In my own humble opinion, I don't think the Lord would be so harsh if He were sitting in the judgement seats of our courts (or if He were asked to comment on a news article). At least not as harsh as some of these commenters are. I see people talking about how they would kill the perpetrators (or at least how they should die), how they should spend the rest of their lives in jail or how they should be physically punished for their crimes. I rarely if ever hear anyone suggesting teaching, mentoring, possibilities of redemption or forgiveness. I don't see anyone admitting to their own faults (ye rock throwers of olde).
Maybe it's just me, but it saddens me on the one hand, and on the other hand, I am so glad that the Lord God is my judge. He is a just God, and a forgiving and compassionate God.
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2 comments:
Juan and Pam,
This post was almost prophetical. Know you are loved, respected and prayed for as you follow God's will in your lives.
1 Peter is a good book to read when your life and compassion are being vilified by the world. Peter sums it up by saying, "Jesus had to deal with it. So why shouldn't we?"
You two are heroes to those of us who know you.
I don't know why I keep reading the comments in the newpapers. It depresses me every time. I think it is a very small group of people who comment. And the annonymity brings out a nasty side of them that they would never show in public in a non-anonymous situation. From what I have seen, there is very little intelligent discussion, and a lot of unintelligent and hateful comments. I wish the papers would turn off this option. -Jen
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