Forgiveness and the Amish
Much has been made of how the Amish in Lancaster County have forgiven Charles Carl Roberts IV for gunning down 10 of their young girls Oct. 2 in a one-room schoolhouse in West Nickel Mines, Pa. Five have died so far, and the others will be scarred for life. Yet the Amish have very publicly forgiven Roberts for his hideous crime and expressed their personal condolences to his widow and children on his death (at his own hand after he shot the girls). This is being hailed in rapturous terms in the mainstream media as the epitome of Christian love and devotion to Jesus, and how it will bring "healing" to the community. Go Thou and do likewise, fellow doormat.
Sorry, I disagree. To forgive Roberts for what he did belittles the horror of what happened to those young innocents. Worst case, it might even encourage some other simpleminded idiot to do something similar. I know forgiveness is an old Christian virtue stressed by Jesus himself, but my reading of that 70x7 passage is that He was talking about the petty annoyances of everyday life, such as bothersome family members, not an evil man who murders your children. I would argue that some crimes are indeed unforgiveable except by God. You don't see Jews, even Jews for Jesus, rushing to forgive Hitler for the Holocaust.
Jewish teaching on the subject of forgiveness is somewhat different than Christian teaching and I like it a lot more. They believe that forgiveness is fine, but don't rush into it. Insist upon sincere efforts by the one who caused you harm to atone for what he or she did. Fix the damage, then seek forgiveness. Mrs. Roberts, though innocent of any involvement in this horror, could help atone for the shame that will inevitably attach to her family name and that of her children by working to help rid America of the sort of weapons her husband used in the slaughter.
Or perhaps by speaking at some events to raise money to pay the medical bills of both the living and dead children, which must be enormous. I understand that charitable donations have been pouring in and will pay some of those expenses, but I find it hard to believe they will cover everything.