PARADISE, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- A grieving grandfather told young relatives not to hate the gunman who killed five girls in an Amish schoolhouse massacre, a pastor said on Wednesday.
"As we were standing next to the body of this 13-year-old girl, the grandfather was tutoring the young boys, he was making a point, just saying to the family, 'We must not think evil of this man,'" the Rev. Robert Schenck told CNN.
"It was one of the most touching things I have seen in 25 years of Christian ministry."........
Whew. How do I begin...
I was deeply touched when I read this article on CNN. After reading it I answered a poll question asking if I would ever be able to forgive someone who had killed one of my children; it took me quite some time to make a choice between the "Yes" and "No" bubble, partly because I don't have any children yet, but mostly because I was torn between what I would have chosen had I not read the article, and my kindled desire to become a more compassionate human being. I ultimately chose "No," which 88% of the other poll-takers answered as well.
I had always considered myself a pacifist. If there was an issue that I felt strongly about enough to "fight" for, I would do so in the form of non-violent protests or strikes. But if someone were to give me the scenario of having the chance to protect a family member from being killed/hurt by carrying out that same act (sort of like a "get him before he gets you" kind of deal), I would ultimately say that I would; the same way I answered "No" on that poll.
Is justice ever achieved with the concept of turning the other cheek? Is the thought of justice even existant in that concept? The dictonary defines "justice" as "the quality of being impartial, unfair" and "RIGHTEOUSNESS" in capital letters. Perhaps turning the other cheek is justice in it's ultimate form?
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Like Edmond Dantes.
From the Christian point-of-view, God will be the final judge and punish everyone appropriately, but God's forgiving nature interferes with what I think is justice. I personally like to sleep with a knife under my bed. Just in case.
I do not believe that the action of "Turning the other cheek" is done in order to achieve justice against our enemies. It is done as an act of forgiveness and non-retaliation; justice is (roughly speaking in the moder tongue) an act of punishment for transgressors of the law. If you murdered my child and I forgave you, that would be an ultimate act of turning the other cheek, as I would not allow my passions to overcome my compassion.
You are confusing justice with revenge. I think it is admirable to see a Christian actually rising to the challenge of living as Jesus instructed and earning his right to call himself a Christian, a right which I feel most Christians don't actually have, since they are no more Christian than they are selfless. I am not a Christian, I have great respect for Jesus, but to quote the great Bas Rutten "some people say an eye for an eye, I don't say that, I say two eyes for an eye." Unlike Christians, I don't claim to be like Jesus, I'm not that good, but at least I can accept it.