The naivety that passes for virtue goes against the very teaching. Paul urged the early converts to be "shrewd" but that is not a virtue that is really being asked for anymore. Rather, forgiveness is the order of the day. We are only turning cheeks, and even before the slap.
My sister-in-law felt a newly released child sexual abuser, a middle-aged man, who left prison and ran directly to her church, not on Sunday, but during a children's event, was to be granted access to the church, as if access to God, at any time. I begged her to see sense. He was not there for God, he was there to rape innocent kids, again. If she cannot see it, than she is guilty of it by proxy. Fortunately, the men of the church were not as naive, and blocked him from returning, calling the police. He was in violation of parole. They could see he wanted to get in to the kids events to scope the kids out. My sis in law said her job is to "forgive." I believe that job is best left to God, and for her to do at home in her heart, not a choice that his hers to exercise with other people's children (she was a leader of the kids group that night) to take that risk on their innocent and trusting behalf.
As an educator, safety first. I take no risk with other people's kids. Zero. That is what I am owed. Nobody has the right to expose kids to a pedophile. I don't care about the soul of the pedophile; that's between them and their God if any. They can find God elsewhere within the guidelines of their probation.
I love my sis in law, but she is the product of religion without the benefit of wisdom or experience. To understand goodness, you first must be schooled in evil, or you won't know the difference. And then, you must always choose goodness and right. And it is painful, all of it. If it feels or sounds good only, it's probably naive, childlike nonsense, rather than wisdom.
Today in the news, Within hours of the Facebook murderer's escape, even while the murder is on the run, having claimed to have killed 13 victims total (which might be a lie) the children of the elderly victims go on TV professing "I forgive you; God loves you; my father is a sacrifice for others to seek God." They professed that "if they don't forgive this murderer, God won't forgive them."
Really? Literally? If God cannot discriminate between the violent acts of a deranged madman and the need to feel anger and take a little time to process one's feelings, than their God has the IQ and patience of a gerbil. Black and white, reductionist thinking only perpetuates the problems of our society. Religion is not the problem, bad thinking and lack of thinking is. Religion has a moral obligation to engage in better teaching, however, knowing that most people exposed to this "forgive" nonsense will act in stupid ways with it and in training shrewdness once again, to keep the sheep from letting so many wolves in because it's "forgiving". Better yet, I would prefer to return to the Jewish notion that forgiveness is earned by the perpetrator, not dispensed by others willy nilly as a knee-jerk reaction to all evil.
