Thursday, October 5, 2006
hatred and forgiveness
The families of the murdered Amish girls have invited the murderer's widow to the funeral services. Forgive my non-Amish puzzlement, but what does it accomplish to invite her and, even more, what would it accomplish if she attended? At first glance, inviting her sounds generous and forgiving, but I wonder. After all, what would it feel like for them, or for her? Wouldn't it basically just be holding her face to the horror? 'Come, wife of the man who brutalized our children...look at what he did...see our dead children? see how sad we are? see what incredible losses we're enduring while you still have your children, you wife of a bad man?!' Furthermore, imagine what it would be like for her. If she knew that her husband had been heading toward a psychological and violent precipice, seeing the dead children and their sad parents would make her even more agonized and grief-stricken than she must already feel. And if she had tried even a little to do anything to get him help, then seeing the children and parents would make her even more agonized and guilt-ridden. So I repeat my question: what does inviting her do, besides making the families look generous and tolerant?
Labels: modern culture, reflections
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