I needed a couple days to cool off before I wrote on this topic. By now, everyone in America has heard of Brock Turner, the man who was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman last year. While the prosecution asked for a 6 year sentence, the judge thought that a long prison term would have “a severe impact” on the criminal and gave a sentence of six months, of which there is a possibility he may only serve three.
When I heard that I nearly lost my mind.
Three months in jail for sexually assaulting a woman. What has this world come to? There are no words that can express the depth of loathing I have for the man who assaulted the woman and the judge who is refusing to bring justice against the vile perpetrator.
But Chris, what about Jesus’s words about forgiveness? Wouldn’t Jesus want us to forgive and move on?
NO!
The context of Jesus’s words is not even remotely close to dealing with one person raping another. Jesus said,
“Even if your brother wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks for forgiveness, forgive him.”
-Luke 17:4
Jesus wasn’t being literal. He wasn’t advocating a seven-time forgiveness, but if you get to number eight you’re free to withhold forgiveness. Jesus was trying to teach people about a character issue—are we willing to be people of forgiveness when people who wrong us repent and seek forgiveness? Jesus wasn’t talking about legal justice.
And Brock Turner has never repented or asked for forgiveness. He’s given excuses—he had too much to drink. There is no ownership or responsibility. There is no repentance. All we need here is justice. And the Bible is not short on discussing justice.
- To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.(Proverbs 21:3)
- When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers. (Proverbs 21:15)
- He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)
- Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.(Isaiah 1:17)
- For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. (Romans 13:4)
That’s just a few. We ought to be pursuing justice against evil people who wreak havoc on the lives of the innocent. This man Turner should not be allowed to escape justice for ANY reason. I tend to hold more to the thinking of the Psalmist who, when contemplating Israel’s enemies, blesses those who dash the heads of the enemy’s babies against the rocks.
Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites
the day of Jerusalem,
how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare,
down to its foundations!”
O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,
blessed shall he be who repays you
with what you have done to us!
Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
and dashes them against the rock! (Psalm 137:7-9)
So I confess openly that I wrestle with developing a heart of forgiveness and seeing this evil man suffer. I know that, as a society, we must do better to protect people from assault and to pursue REAL justice against the evil people who perpetrate it on others.
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What do you think? How do you feel about forgiveness versus justice? Just keep your comments polite towards each other, even in disagreement.
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So, in cases like this I find it easy for us to vilify the criminal or “the other” and distance ourselves from his actions as if we are pure and blameless, never having harmed or wronged another in our lives. How about Matthew 7 or taking a moment to admit how many times in the past we as a society have allowed/looked the other way/remained silent when sports stars or celebritirs have behaved badly; when college students enter into risky behavior, accept casual sex as the norm, binge drink or take drugs? Every time we don’t use these headlines as a teaching moment to reframe “normal” and talk about respect, healthy relationships, appropriate behavior, peer pressure, and expectations, we lose a little more ground. These are the conversations we shoukd be having in middle school or younger and if our kids are in team sports we should be scrutinizing tbe philosophies of our coaches because they are, at times, a surrogate parent/mentor. Young people are shaped by every encounter in their lives with peers and adults. I would argue that Brock Turner is not an evil person. What he did was evil and wrong and the fact that he is not taking full responsibility is as much his father’s fault as his own. Most likely his attorney also is trying to head off a civil suit.
But as a Christian, to promote an attitude of withholding forgiveness keeps us not only forever bound to the perpetrator, it imprisons us in a kind of hellish limbo of hatred and retribution. And then we cannot fully move forward with our lives.
I speak from experience as one who was raped in college by an escaped convict who held me hostage for 9 hours. I was lucky to escape with my life. But even while I allowed myself normal hatred and anger for a time, I knew deep down that as a Christian I could not stay there. When I came to know my rapist’s family history of abuse, I could see him as a broken person in need of forgiveness, and dud, if only to release me from the bitterness.
I admire the woman who wrote the letter because she went a long way towards educating all of us to see our responsibility to speak up against this kind of behavior BEFORE it’s too late. To not condone risky behavior, or violence or illegal acts by our silence. To uphold healthy systems that train our children to be well rounded children who grow into adults. To demand better of our coaches and school adminstrators, our pastors and military. To make character development a top priority from the kitchen table to the boardroom. To hold each other accountable. To not tear down another even when they have done wrong until we have looked in the mirror as a people and ask “How can this be?”
If we want to bring the Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, we need to model Jesus’ divinity even when our humanity wants to rule the day.
Forgiveness makes us compassionate. It helps us to see others with the eyes of Jesus. And then to strive to create the change we want to see. Remember Jesus’ words on the cross? “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do.” Amen
Erin,
Thank you for sharing from your own difficult times and what God has brought you through.