no comment
Posted on 12/16/2016 4:36:28 PM PST by nickcarraway
A man who searched desperately for his wife and daughters, only to learn they had died in Gatlinburg's recent fires, has a message of hope and forgiveness -- for the two juveniles charged with aggravated arson in the case.
"Forgiveness isn't for you," Michael Reed wrote to the two unnamed suspects in a message posted Thursday on Facebook and made available by his family. "It is for me. It is for my son. It is for Constance, Chloe, and Lily. It is for this community who all lost so much in this tragedy."
"We will pray for you. Every day. We will pray for your parents and your family members. Every day. We will pray for your peace. We will show you grace. Why? Because that's what Jesus would do."
As the wildfires reached the family's Gatlinburg home late last month, Reed became separated from his wife and daughters. He and his 15-year-old son took the family vehicle to see what side of the road the fire was burning on. He said they got stuck in traffic when he received a call from his wife, Constance.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
no comment
What an amazing man. My son lost his cabin in the fire, but fortunately,my sister, who was living there, was able to safely evacuate.
I’d post their bail so I could get my hands on them.
I would never forgive them. If you want forgiveness, pray to GOD, that’s his business. Not mine!
But that's just me.
YMMV
Good point. I don’t understand how modern Christianity got warped into an ideology in which its followers love to be tortured and love their torturers even more.
Jesus is God, and He’s the one who said it definitely IS our business to forgive.
Peace,
SR
Bogus argument. No sane person loves to be tortured. But forgiving is not optional. Loving our enemy is not optional. Jesus told us to forgive, so we have to forgive. If we don’t, we’ve rejected God himself. Not good.
Peace,
SR
And he said to His disciples, "Take up your dross and follow me."
As an individual I have to forgive. As a society we should mete out harsh punishment if it was arson. We are too soft on crime and our ‘compassion’ hurts too many people.
Take up your cross.
But, He said that IF the offender REPENTED they were to be forgiven. Then repeated the admonition when the apostles asked if they were to even forgive when offended 70 X 7 He replied IF HE REPENTS, forgive him.
The condition for repentance is usually omitted nowadays, casting the injured party as the bad boy if they don’t forgive.
Thank goodness your sister got out. A cabin can be rebuilt. Happy for your family.
Mrs. Don-o makes an excellent point in post 11. Jesus forgave his unrepentant murderers unconditionally. Was He wrong?
Peace,
SR
This is really about this poor man making peace with a horrible situation and attempting to move on with his life.
Have you?
I haven't forgiven ISIS.
Have You?
I haven't forgiven the monster that kidnapped, raped, and buried alive a little girl a few years ago. Have you?
There are a lot of evil monsters in this world that commit all sorts of unspeakable acts, and I have no intention of forgiving them.
You and the rest of the oh-so-pious modern American Christians have clung to a weird masochist interpretation of Christianity. I've observed it for years here and in real life.
You people seem to revel in suffering and love those that torment you specifically because they are inflicting pain on you. It's sick. It's like a bizarre version of Stockholm symdrome.
A prime example of this is the Charleston church shooting last year. A guy slaughtered nine people in church, and within HOURS the families and friends were practically shouting from the rooftops WE FORGIVE HIM!
It's not normal. And of course I don't expect anybody in the Free Republic Bible Militia to budge an inch on this or anything else.
Just understand that nearly everybody thinks that all this instant forgiveness is at least dumb, if not fake. I personally think its both.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.