Forgiveness and Justice

This evening is the second of three sessions I'm leading on the subject of forgiveness at Trenton United, our congregational home. We're somewhat constrained by time because we've chosen to stick to an hour each of the weeks so we're done by the time choir practice commences. 

This has been a good refresher for me about the central place of forgiveness in Christian faith and that forgiveness has become an important topic in the realms of psychology and philosophy. Our culture may be more secular but forgiveness is still discussed, the source of many books, and regularly newsworthy. 

Last week a Dallas, Texas police officer was convicted of murder after shooting and killing an innocent man, Botham Jean. She entered his apartment allegedly thinking it was her own (actually a floor below) and quickly shot him as an intruder-- welcome to America. Jean was a kind, loving, Christian person who was supposedly in the safety of his own home. It took the jury 24 hours to deliberate and convict the police officer, and the judge sentenced her to ten years in prison (many, including Jean's family, thought this was far too light a sentence.)

Needless to say, the family was greatly relieved that justice was done, although they will never be the same. Remarkably, at the sentencing Botham Jean's 18-year-old brother, Brandt, told the perpetrator that he forgave her and sought permission to hug her, which he did. He is convinced that the victim, Botham, would have wanted her to be forgiven by the family because of his Christian faith. Then the judge gave the police officer a hug as well, and presented her with a bible.



A storm of controversy quickly arose. The judge was criticized for violating the separation of church and state because of her actions. Many commentators who are persons of colour felt that Brandt's actions are yet another example of black people absolving whites for acts of violence, obscuring the disparities in American society. 

I don't want to weigh in on the responses to this extension of forgiveness and I am convinced that forgiveness and justice should go hand in hand. For me this story is another reminder of the real-life, everyday challenges of forgiveness in a broken world.



Botham Jean's grieving family