Thoughts I'm pondering right now: To what degree do we offer mercy towards a Christian man guilty of a crime? To what degree do we yearn for punishment against a Christian brother? What should be my response when a Christian brother is accused of a crime? What should it be if he is found guilty?
I understand what my response should be when it is simply an act of sin; forgiveness.
Any thoughts?
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3 comments:
I think there are a lot of factors to that question, including the man's heart in the matter. Is he repentant for the crime? Is he repentant because he feels that his actions did not reflect Christ, or because he got caught? Christian or not, everyone deserves the consequences of their actions. The great thing about Jesus is that, while we were deserving of the consequences, he worked out a deal where we don't have to suffer for everything we do. That said, when it comes to criminal offenses, the law is the law, and to let a Christian off the hook looks a lot like hypocrisy. Forgive, yes. But to feel that someone should serve time for their offense doesn't mean you haven't forgiven. It just means that you recognize that there are earthly consequences to sin.
It is interesting that St. Aquinas wrote about war in the section of the Summa Theologica that discussed love and charity. Sometimes in order to love someone there needs to be a punishment. There can and should be forgiveness, but there are also ramifications for actions, especially for societal purposes. As Rousseau delineates in his "Social Contract" treatise, people who violate the social contract are enemies of the society and must be punished or reformed.
Good points. I think I was trying to process how I felt about the situation. How does one balance a yearning for justice and a desire for mercy as well. At times the two can be hard to hold onto at the same time.
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