The loved ones of the men and women Dylann Roof allegedly shot to death have done what?
They have forgiven the young man? They say that if God can forgive him, how can they not?
This one is going to take some time for me to process.
Roof stands accused of killing nine people at a church in Charleston, S.C. It appears to have been a racially motivated massacre. He is known to have said he wanted to start a “civil war” and that he believes blacks and whites shouldn’t mix.
So, he went to a Bible study, was welcomed by the African-American church members. He sat with those victims for an hour — and then he opened fire.
Today, he went to court for an arraignment and several family members said they forgive this individual for committing a monstrous act of terror against them and those he killed in cold blood.
I consider myself a committed Christian. I know what Scripture says about forgiveness, how Jesus Christ urges us to love one another, no matter the sin. He didn’t distinguish among sins, never said one sin was greater than another.
What the young man is accused of doing, though, crosses a line that makes his alleged sin far greater than, say, using impolite language.
Could I forgive someone for doing something that Dylann Roof is accused of doing?
Hypothetical questions are tough to answer.
Perhaps one day, I could.
One day.
Perhaps.
From my perch halfway across the country where this carnage occurred, I harbor intense anger toward this young man.
I stand amazed that those who are suffering such intense grief and heartbreak can find it in them to forgive.