Religion Meets Pop Culture

Today Casey Anthony was found not guilty of killing her daughter. Sadly, my wife has been afflicted with an addiction to this trial. The Grey Wife is only on stage one of her rehab.

What I find most interesting about the verdict is the responses of many people I know, and that I know consider themselves good Christians. For the record, I am an Agnostic, not a Christian. Note that I said Agnostic, not Atheist. There is a difference.

Facebook and the web are full of those who call this verdict a shame, and that the Defendant should be imprisoned for life or killed. I find these opinions most un-Christian.

(All cites are from the King James Bible)

Matthew 7:1: Judge not, that ye be not judged.

None of us were there. The only one(s) who truly know what happened are Ms. Anthony and the killer if they are not the same person. Neither were any of us called upon by the courts to pass judgement on the evidence presented. Nor were any of us subjected ONLY to the evidence the jurors saw, without the additional input of weeks of Nancy Grace, et al. So we can not fairly judge their actions.

Romans 12:19: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Do you neither believe in your God nor trust Him? Vengeance is not yours but the Lord's. Shouldn't you trust your God to do what is just?

Does your religion teach the Lord's Prayer? Perhaps reciting it now will be instructive.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

When you pray as the Lord instructed, you are asking not for what YOU want, but what the Lord wants. While I, and probably you, can not see the sense in a child's murder, can you be absolutely certain that it does not fit a purpose of your God? Or are you so arrogant as to believe that you, and you alone, know the mind of God?

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Remember what you are praying for when you say this. You are NOT asking for forgiveness. You ARE asking to be forgiven in the same manner you forgive others. How forgiving have you been to Ms. Anthony today? Would you like God to mete out the same amount of forgiveness you have shown her when He judges your sins? If having God call for you to live a long and painful life in a prison, or to be killed brutally doesn't sound appealing to you, perhaps you should look at how forgiving you have been today.

I am not saying that we should not be saddened by Caylee Anthony's death and manner of death. Nor am I saying you should invite her mother over for a long and intimate dinner. I am saying you should trust your God's judgement. Either the verdict is correct and God is satisfied, or the verdict let a murderer go, and God will have his vengeance in His time. Not your time, His time.

While your sins may not be quite to the level of murder, they are real and manifold. You, as a Christian, will be relying on God for his forgiveness. Will you want the forgiveness you have given today, or will you want something better? To get better forgiveness, you must give better forgiveness. Have you, today, loved your neighbor as yourself?

No one ever said being a Christian was easy. You must learn to forgive. You must learn to give up your anger and your hate.

Have you considered that this whole episode happened just because YOU needed a lesson in forgiveness?

Here endeth the Rant.