“That man, that young man, I forgive him.”
Erica Kirk quietly spoke these words about the gunman accused of killing her husband: conservative activist charlie kirkIt was during last month’s memorial service that she struggled to hold back tears.
Her public declaration inspired others. Hollywood actor Tim Allen said he was so moved by her words that he can now forgive the drunk driver who caused his father’s death 60 years ago. Just two weeks after Charlie Kirk’s death, members of a Michigan congregation announced the following. They also forgave the gunman.who had just attacked their church, killing four people and injuring eight others.
Their high-profile act of forgiveness is all the more remarkable given the intensely politically polarized climate that grips the United States. It urges people of faith to reflect on what forgiveness means, especially in the face of violence, trauma, and unspeakable grief, and how it can shift public consciousness toward compassion.
While some see a glimmer of hope in this moment, others are skeptical. Miroslav Wolf, a professor of theology at Yale School of Theology, said he sees President Donald Trump’s response as follows: Erica Kirk’s words — he hates his enemies — as a more typical emotion.
“Erica Kirk’s gesture is an outlier,” he said. “This was an extraordinary act of courage, but it was also telling that[Trump’s]response received a greater response from the crowd that gathered for the commemoration. These two very different responses make us wonder: How do you find space for grace when you are so conflicted that you cannot recognize the humanity on the other side of the divide?”
Forgiveness, the Christian Mission
California pastor Jack Hibbs, who heads Calvary Chapel Chino Hills and is a friend of the Kirk family, said her words were an “incredibly powerful” message of hope for the shooter and consistent with the family’s deep commitment to the gospel, which commands Christians to forgive even their enemies.
“The Bible warns that bitterness, if left unchecked, can grow in the heart and destroy it,” Hibbs said. “Therefore, in order to free us from our past treatment, God granted us forgiveness.”
The Rev. Thomas Berg, a visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame’s McGrath Institute for Church Life, said he hopes Erika Kirk’s actions “start a meaningful national conversation about forgiveness.”
He said forgiveness is not a one-time event, but a process that takes time and effort. Berg, who counsels victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, warns that sexual abuse should never be forced, but truly given. He says this act has the power to heal the deepest wounds.
He would like to see more public expressions of forgiveness, which could be a painkiller for the country.
“I hope this is not temporary,” he said. “The dynamics of forgiveness are taking a toll on the dysfunction of our partisan divisions and our inability to have a rational exchange of ideas.”
Dave Butler, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a science fiction writer based in Utah, believes that forgiveness is the duty of all Christians, as taught by his church. he started Crowdfunding initiatives As of this week, more than $388,000 had been raised for the family of the Michigan shooter who opened fire on a Latter-day Saint congregation.
Butler said he started it because in addition to church members grieving the loss of loved ones in the shooting, there were also families of the shooters who were traumatized.
“They didn’t choose this either,” he said. “Yet they are now lacking as husbands and fathers. If we are not thinking about it, we may be inclined to see them as adversaries rather than victims. More than 10,000 people have contributed, and they understand that what they are doing is an act of forgiveness.”
Forgiveness from an Anabaptist perspective
A frequently cited modern example of forgiveness is: Amish community reaction In 2006, a gunman killed five Amish schoolgirls and injured five more before taking his own life near a nickel mine in Pennsylvania. The local Amish immediately expressed forgiveness for the killer and supported the widow.
The Amish are part of a broader Anabaptist movement that focuses on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which contains some of his most radical and countercultural words: love your enemies, live simply, bless your persecutors, turn the other cheek, and endure suffering with joy. In it, Jesus says that God only forgives those who forgive others.
Many people outside the Anabaptist world support their beliefs about forgiveness, but they also support it. Appears as spokesperson for Haitian kidnappers Number of Anabaptist missionaries in 2021 — Some say the situation is more complicated. Advocates for victims of sexual abuse in the Anabaptist community say victims and their families are often sexually abused. forced to reconcile The abuser confesses and receives a short period of disciplinary action.
The complex journey of a trauma survivor
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers said the Jewish view of forgiveness is different in that the perpetrator must ask forgiveness from the person wronged. He leads the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, where a gunman attacked during Shabbat services on October 27, 2018, killing 11 people from three congregations.
“For me, the situation is complicated by the fact that there are 11 dead people for whom I cannot ask for forgiveness,” Myers said, adding that forgiveness cannot be granted because the perpetrators, who could face the death penalty, have shown no remorse.
“The perpetrators have received a certain amount of justice based on the judicial process, but with those 11 people gone, it’s not over,” Myers said. “Nothing will ease the pain.”
What gives him some comfort is being able to help other congregants experiencing similar trauma. Myers said he was grateful to receive that support from the Rev. Eric Manning, pastor of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. This church is a historic black church to which self-proclaimed white supremacists belong. shot dead 9 believers June 17, 2015 — including the church pastor at the time.
“Today, as someone who belongs to a club no one should belong to, I consider it my sacred duty to help,” Myers said. “Even if I can help just one person, it makes me happy and feels healing.”
Peg Durachko, whose husband, dentist Dr. Richard Gottfried, was one of the victims of the synagogue shooting, said that as a Catholic, she looked to Pope John Paul II for inspiration after reading an article about how Pope John Paul II visited and forgave the imprisoned man who shot her.
“I recognize that I am a child of God who made bad choices to lead (the shooter) in that direction,” she said. “I’m not his judge. God is the judge. I want to give him eternal life. I don’t hold any hatred or ill will towards anyone, including him. I don’t want to carry this baggage of hatred.”
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Associated Press writer Peter Smith in Pittsburgh contributed to this report.
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through The Associated Press collaboration Funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. and in collaboration with The Conversation US. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
