Posted on 08/31/2019 2:38:33 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
FULL TITLE: Parents of Boy Thrown Off Mall of America Balcony Decry Assailant’s Actions as ‘Evil’ But Forgive Him During Sentencing
The parents of a 5-year-old Minnesota boy who survived being thrown from a third-floor balcony at the Mall of America decried the assailant’s actions as “evil” while saying they forgive him at a hearing Monday where a judge handed down a 19-year prison sentence.
Emmanuel Aranda showed little emotion during his hearing. When Hennepin County District Judge Jeannice Reding asked whether Aranda wanted to say anything on his own behalf, the 24-year-old Minneapolis man responded with a simple, “No.” Reding then sentenced him to the term he agreed to when he pleaded guilty last month to attempted premeditated first-degree murder in the April 12 attack.
Aranda told investigators he went to the mall “looking for someone to kill.” According to the complaint, he had tried unsuccessfully to talk to women in the mall but their rejection “caused him to lash out and be aggressive.” He said had planned to kill an adult before choosing the child instead.
The boy, identified in court only as Landen, plunged almost 40 feet (12 meters) and needed multiple surgeries for head trauma and broken bones. No update on his recovery was provided in court Monday, though his parents described it as miraculous.
“Your act was evil and selfish, you chose to listen to the worst parts of yourself that day,” the boy’s father said in a statement read by prosecutor Cheri Ann Townsend. “You chose evil over good and chose to take your hate and hurt out on my precious boy. That is where your impact on us stops, you will take nothing more from us.”
(Excerpt) Read more at ktla.com ...
Let God forgive them or not. The evil person needs to die
Well, Jesus said to turn the other cheek.
Weird. Well, my summarization mostly covered it, anyway.
You are right.
Low IQ ideas are becoming rampant.
When it’s the perfect time, that’s when.
Just curious -
Should we forgive people, even if they are not repentant?
If you hold on to bitterness, whether someone apologizes or not,
...it will only hurt yourself..... and that can manifest in your body physically, mentally and spiritually
Even people from concentration camps ( ie the Holocaust) have forgiven
Please.....I refer you to The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
You cannot move forward in life if you let the past or circumstances entrap you!
“He went to the mall “looking for someone to kill.”
I would forgive him, too. The loser is morally sick and deserves sympathy. If he does not regret his crime, then he will remain morally sick and do nothing to please God. I like response to crime that Americans had in 1830: if major crime, then look for a rope and a tall tree.
They didn’t forgive the crime........they forgave the man.....and are quite ready and desirous to turn him over to the justice system.....and relieved I’m sure he is going to jail.
What they did seems very very hard and truly impossible without God.
Thanks
Romans 12:19
Bible, King James Version
The Lord also told us to hate evil. Can’t think of anything more evil than throwing a helpless child over a balcony.
Makes ‘em feel better somehow.
You don’t forgive because it is asked. It is given freely because hate is toxic, and because as Christians we are asked by the Lord to forgive. The father expressed exactly why they forgave. It was because the perp will not be able to “take” anything else from them.” Forgiveness is not for the perp (he will pay), but for themselves. It will remove him from their minds, knowing that he will pay.
Forgiveness is releasing the person from the debt they owe us and turning them over to God for Him to deal with.
There’s no way he can pay them back for what he did to them. Forgiveness frees them from being eaten alive from the inside by anger and bitterness.
It certainly is not saying that what he did was OK.
Metmom said it well. I can only add that the word “forgiveness” in the Bible is also “liberation”, that is, they release him from any debt he owes them personally, in favor of his paying his debt to society. As Metmom said.
Christian forgiveness is not virtue-signaling as some here have said. It is a well-reasoned, counter-cultural, obedient response to an evil received. I would only hope I could respond the same in the same circumstance.
Some Freepers here need to think long and hard about what Matthew 6 says....
“14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
The issue has nothing to do with the perp and what he did... he has to deal with God and the state for that. However, forgiveness has everything to do with the parents and their standing with God. And by their statement, it’s clear that their standing with God is totally honourable, Biblical and irreproachable. They have my total respect.
WTF is wrong with people!!!! This is why I sometimes just think about shrugging my shoulders and give zero feks. Our society is rapidly regressing at an alarming rate.
WTF is wrong with people!!!!
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The parents in this story did something a rock solid Christian would do. If you think they are nuts, you are saying the same thing about Christ.
Very ironically, at least concerning this thread and your comment, what is wrong is that is that way too many people who would probably call themselves Christian have no idea what being a Christian actually means. Sadly it’s something many on this thread share with many liberals.
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