For all victims including little kids raped and tortured and cases like this one, asking “love thy neighbor” and “show mercy” and “forgive” when monsters are lurking is too much for me.
I wish I could convince myself otherwise.
When a little child is abused and the religious types push forgiveness it reminds me of asking them to be like the children who cut themselves or burn themselves (”self harm”) if they lower themselves so much they must forgive the monsters who hurt them.
I believe in revenge.
The love thy neighbor thing isn’t for the benefit of that neighbor who has committed an offense, it is for your personal benefit and well-being, to prevent a culture of honor killings from developing. We can see what the desire for revenge and the inevitable cycle of revenge has done for the Palestinians, for example, and for gangs. It is self destructive and corrupting and seldom just.
It also isn’t a rule for government- in fact, government is the proper avenue for vengeance, which is why it has the ordained authority to bear the sword of justice.