Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
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Notes -
This isn't a question but rather a statement. But I would like to hear what you think.
So I didn’t care for Charlie Kirk, and I’m not Christian (though I think they're pretty cool in general). But the fact that Erika Kirk, his widow, stood up and forgave the man accused of murdering her husband is staggering.
In an era where public life is fueled by score-settling and astounding cruelty this feels like a rare moment of moral progress. It’s counter-cultural in a good way: mercy instead of vengeance.
Here's an article from The Guardian about it
It's especially notable when you compare this act to yesterday’s generation of right-wing Christian political leaders, who would’ve absolutely doubled down on punishment and wrath. Can you imagine, fucking, Hannity, Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Falwell or Robertson forgiving someone that murdered their spouse? Yeah right.
And just to remind us of the previous era that needs to finish going the way of the dinosaurs, Trump himself openly said on stage right next to her that he hates his enemies and doesn’t care what Erika just said about what Jesus says about forgiveness.
To see Erika Kirk take the opposite stance, forgiveness, love, mercy, is unexpectedly hopeful. I am appreciating the small bit of moral progress on the Christian right here.
'Turning the other cheek' is more about breaking cycles of vengeance through forgiveness and not holding a grudge.
In other words her act is more of a call against retaliatory acts of violence against the Left and nothing about absolving the criminal from his need to face Justice.
This might be a small scale question itself but wasn't it about non-resistance to active persecution in the original text?
How did "if someone slaps you turn the other cheek to also be slapped" turn into "oh, I forgive you, but I make no promises for that judge over there or that cop I just called"?
Pope John Paul II famously advocated for his (failed) assassin to be pardoned. I think he did it to make the religious point beyond doubt, but I believe justice for criminals is something that is pro-social and needs to happen. You can imagine a Christian fanaticist society according to your interpretation and its likely outcomes.
John Paul II advocated for the Turkish failed assassin to be pardoned after he had already spent decades in jail and had a lengthy sentence for previous crimes waiting for him in his home country to which he would immediately be deported. The Spanish failed assassin he did not intervene in the judicial process of, and after his release from prison he became a human rights lawyer and now works for the EU.
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