Forgiveness is a Selfish, Gutless Cop-out
Offline The first few months behind bars were the worst of my life. Every night I'd stare into the darkness, waiting for the nightmares, waiting to hear those horrible screams all over again. Even here behind these thick penitentiary walls, there was no hiding from what I'd done to that poor family.
Then, one night, it happened: I lay alone in my cell, my only companion the visions of wickedness that filled my head. Suddenly, there was a light, and somehow the light spoke to me. It was the voice of Jesus Christ. He told me he had died for the sins of mankind and all could find peace through his salvation. Was I ready to repent?
It was a stroke of unbelievable luck. Here I thought I'd spend the rest of my life agonizing over that night I broke into a random house and methodically tortured all five of its residents, but Jesus was like, "Nah, you're good." He took all those years I expected to wallow in suffocating guilt for having forced a mother to choose the order in which I strangled her children and wiped them away in a jiff.
Which is ironic because the family I murdered in cold blood was praying to Jesus like crazy the whole time.
If it weren't for the Savior, I'd still be living with a horribly tormented conscience like some chump. I used to think that maybe, just maybe, I could ease some of the unrelenting pain after a lifetime of good works and contrition. But once God's grace washed over me—and that took, what, maybe 15 minutes at most?—I knew I was in the clear.
Bing, bang, boom. Salvation.
I mean, it's too bad I'll never get back those days I squandered on unbearable guilt, but Jesus bailed me out big time, so I'm not going to complain. No sense in living in the past. The man who took five innocent lives in brutal fashion and made himself a glass of chocolate milk afterward might as well be a totally different person. I walk in the Lord now.
And man, is it great! All those remorse pounds I lost came right back with my renewed appetite, and I'm sleeping better than ever. Sure, every once in a while, my dreams are interrupted by the image of that 6-year-old with a broken neck pointing at me, but that's why I keep ol' 1 John 1:9 taped to my ceiling: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Pretty straightforward, right? And it's not like that kid isn't in heaven right now, bathing in His loving light and everything.
See, God's looking out for both of us.
I now know the power of forgiveness, because it was hand-delivered to me by the highest authority in the universe. It'd be nice if the friends and relatives of the Robinson family forgave me too, but you know what? That's between them and God. All I can do is forgive them for having judged me. If they harden their hearts and turn away from His love—well, I can only pity them, really.
It's a shame not everyone can move on from that horrible night, with its choked sobs, desperate pleas for mercy, and senseless bloody killings. But thankfully, I have.
Jesus has led me to a new path. I don't know what lies ahead, exactly, but now that I'm not so sad all the dang time, I've thought about maybe trying to learn a foreign language. I'm leaning toward Japanese, even though I hear it's pretty hard. The grammar's supposed to be tricky, and there are all those weird characters you have to learn, too.
Of course, the laws of man will keep me physically behind bars for the rest of my life. But my soul has been set free by the Lord and by the sacrifice of His only son. Despite all my earthly sins, He has redeemed me. He always does.
Had I known that sooner, I would've killed way more people.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/if-i-hadnt-found-jesus-id-feel-pretty-shitty-about,17883/
"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck
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thought to ourselves that forgiveness was a cheap cop-out. Trust the onion to nail it smack on the head.
"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck
Well, I don't see anything wrong with forgiveness. But it has nothing to do with magic or scape goating.
I think it is bad to hold grudges and to let hate consume you. But you cant always give someone a pass when they make a mistake. I think everything is a case by case bases and the forgiveness isn't an entitlement to be asked for by the offender where the offender automatically is entitled to it because they asked for it. It can only be something given by the person affected if they chose.
Not even talking about robbery or murder. But how many times in one's life have anyone here gotten angry at someone and yelled at them to realize maybe you shouldn't have? Have you ever said "Im sorry". To someone about something?
I think holding grudges is the cornerstone of why religions fight each other generation after generation.
I do think that the concept that a magical being can magically say, "you get a pass even though you did this" is an absurd concept.
I do think humans make mistakes and I don't think all mistakes should be treated the same. Its not that forgiveness is always bad in every context. It is a cop out if it is treated like an entitlement and the person learns nothing from it.
But again, the super hero concept of Jesus does set one up to treat life as a "dont worry about it, make as many mistakes as you want, just admit them and you can keep making mistakes". In this context, forgiveness is a joke.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
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The Onion's satirical writers are some of the best anywhere! Thanks for posting this!
The Onion FTW!
"This may shock you, but not everything in the bible is true." The only true statement ever to be uttered by Jean Chauvinism, sociopathic emotional terrorist.
"A Boss in Heaven is the best excuse for a boss on earth, therefore If God did exist, he would have to be abolished." Mikhail Bakunin
"The means in which you take,
dictate the ends in which you find yourself."
"Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government! Supreme leadership derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony!"
No Gods, No Masters!
When satire gets this close to reality, it gives me the chills more than it makes me laugh.
Ugh! Those are the ones that really bug me. Their mental problems go way beyond the fact that they are sick enough in the head to kill people like that.
If all the Christians who have called other Christians " not really a Christian " were to vanish, there'd be no Christians left.
I see forgiveness in modern Christianity as a useful tool for them.
They do something that they and the Bible recognize as sin. They pray and ask Jesus to forgive their sin and they promise to try really hard not to do it again (until the next time it benefits them). Then the cycle begins anew.
Like it says on the shampoo bottle - Lather, rinse, repeat.
"I do this real moron thing, and it's called thinking. And apparently I'm not a very good American because I like to form my own opinions."
— George Carlin
As annonymous says satire can be chilling when it gets this close. I've done prison time and noticed that the prison chaplain spent most of his time either with the sex offenders in the isolation wing (vicarious pleasure?), or with those seeking parole, all recidivists.
True introspection surely involves looking into oneself and to claim instead that one has found this other person there that forgives one is psychotic alienation, a seperation from oneself and ones actions. Much worse than cowardice or cop out because that hints at a glimmer of understanding for what one has done; avoidance rather than denial.
P.S. New to the site, hello to all the rational out there
Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest? (Henry II 1133-89)
Nice thoughtful post. It's worth considering that guilt is a mechanism of self correction that predates religion. Those powerful feelings are inside our minds for good reason. The idea of jesus as an escape hatch from proper shame and guilt has always struck me as a weakness on the christian side. Personally, at 43yo, find there's a directory of mistakes that keeps me awake 20 or 30 years after commission. I forget them for a while but they always resurface to score me anew.
Ownership of mistakes - 100 per cent. Chance of repetition - zero.
"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck
I mean, it's too bad I'll never get back those days I squandered on unbearable guilt, but Jesus bailed me out big time, so I'm not going to complain. No sense in living in the past. The
man who took five innocent lives in brutal fashion and made himself a glass of chocolate milk afterward might as well be a totally different person. I walk in the Lord now.
Edited by butterbattle: No advertising please.
That's the beauty of it, isn't it? Jesus bailed you out and will keep bailing you out every time you want to a "sin" that benefits you.
oh, lose the spam links, please?
"I do this real moron thing, and it's called thinking. And apparently I'm not a very good American because I like to form my own opinions."
— George Carlin
Yeah! Quit using Microsoft Office to correct your spelling, you!!!