It IS the christly thing to do, but forgiving him doesn't mean bending to evil or condoining his actions. Decrying what he did, expecting justice and being clear about the nature of his sin is not inherent in forgiveness. Too many people seem to think forgiveness means being spineless. It means not seeking revenge, not being sinful in turn--but anger and grief are acceptable and necessary emotions for christians too.
People have been trained on a steady diet of "Turn the other cheek (culturally mistranslated)" to think that being a Christian means sitting down, shutting up, and letting everyone else walk all over you. We're called to love our enemies, but you can love someone and still say "What you did was wrong, and you still need to be punished." Forgiveness isn't "We'll just pretend you didn't do anything wrong." It's "You did something wrong, but I'm going to love you, anyway." Mercy can only given to those who genuinely ask for it. Jesus, through His parables, was not kind to those who would abuse His grace.
My dad once said he thinks that the death penalty could be a mercy in of itself, because it gives one a clear time limit to their waste of a life and a chance to get right with God while they have a chance.
Edit: Why am I fully upvoted when I'm agreeing with yamez?
It IS the christly thing to do, but forgiving him doesn't mean bending to evil or condoining his actions. Decrying what he did, expecting justice and being clear about the nature of his sin is not inherent in forgiveness. Too many people seem to think forgiveness means being spineless. It means not seeking revenge, not being sinful in turn--but anger and grief are acceptable and necessary emotions for christians too.
People have been trained on a steady diet of "Turn the other cheek (culturally mistranslated)" to think that being a Christian means sitting down, shutting up, and letting everyone else walk all over you. We're called to love our enemies, but you can love someone and still say "What you did was wrong, and you still need to be punished." Forgiveness isn't "We'll just pretend you didn't do anything wrong." It's "You did something wrong, but I'm going to love you, anyway." Mercy can only given to those who genuinely ask for it. Jesus, through His parables, was not kind to those who would abuse His grace.
My dad once said he thinks that the death penalty could be a mercy in of itself, because it gives one a clear time limit to their waste of a life and a chance to get right with God while they have a chance.
Edit: Why am I fully upvoted when I'm agreeing with yamez?
They way he worded it and people not reading the entire post.