Muslims can learn from parents of Boston child victim Martin Richard

Can Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's family understand forgiveness?

It's rare in Muslim culture, as far as I know, to hear about occasions where forgiveness and clemency are outcomes of people convicted of criminal acts. Usually, the Muslim culture's retribution for criminal behavior are nearly as brutal as the crimes commited, like a literal application of the concept of "an eye for an eye".  

Although I'm certainly not an expert on Islam, my rare experience, from reading, is that the Muslims have a difficult time with the concept of forgiveness.

Therefore, the request by the parents of the youngest victim in the Boston marathon bombing, to drop the death penalty, as a possible punishment for convicted bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, must be unusual, to say the least, especially to militant Islamist extremists.

Bill and Denise Richard's eight-year-old son was one of three people killed in the explosions in April 2013.

The Richards said an execution sentence "could bring years of appeals and prolong reliving the most painful day of our lives."

Tsarnaev was convicted last week.

The Richard family made their plea in a front-page piece in the Boston Globe, on Friday, April 17th.

"We are in favour of and would support the Department of Justice in taking the death penalty off the table, in exchange for the defendant spending the rest of his life in prison without any possibility of release and waiving all of his rights to appeal," they wrote.

The Richards were injured in the attack and their daughter, Jane, lost one of her legs in one of the explosions.

"The defendant murdered our 8-year-old son, maimed our 7-year-old daughter, and stole part of our soul. We know that the government has its reasons for seeking the death penalty, but the continued pursuit of that punishment could bring years of appeals and prolong reliving the most painful day of our lives," they said.

Indeed, this is an extraordinary request from the parents of Martin Richard.  God Love Them.

 

On the other hand, radical Islamists, those zealous about jihad, must be perplexed by this parental request. Extremism seems to prevent terrorists from understanding the concept of letting go of the "eye for an eye" cultural concept. 

Consequently, in my opinion, the extraordinary request by the grieving Richard family is a magnificent humanitarian response to terrorism. Their Christian response to the perpetrator of their grief is a stark contrast to the extremist culture. Tragically, there are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of children being terrorized and murdered by terrorist extremists, many of them are young girls.  It certainly takes enormous faith in the power of forgiveness and clemency to respond to those who cause horrendous grief for innocent people. I have to respond to the Richard family's request.

Out of deep respect for this family's loss and grief, I agree to call for clemency for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. I pray that Dzhokhar's family will understand the concept of forgiveness and respond by telling the Richard family how much they deeply regret what he did.

Pope Francis - Love Transcendng Sinfulness

Merry Christmas to the World from Pope Francis at St. Peter's Midnight Mass- Pope Francis rang in his first Christmas at the Vatican with a Christmas Eve Mass, by preaching a message of love and forgiveness. Having experienced attending Christmas Eve Midnight Mass at St. Peter's, when Pope John Paul II led the Mass, I'm reliving the uplifting Christmas memory and imagining how exhilarated the people are to be with Pope Francis at this joyous liturgical celebration.  

"He called on the throngs gathered at St. Peter's Basilica to cast aside hatred." (Reports CNN)

"People are listening to him, because he's speaking in a language that's not Vaticanese," O'Connell said. "He's speaking the language of ordinary people."

Pope Francis puts a face on human love. His behavior, reaching out to the poor and disenfranchised, extends beyond being a teacher from the pulpit. He has demonstrated the power of humility to win human hearts. His capacity to show love transcends sinfulness. 

It seems to me, hate and love cannot coexist. If love can replace hate, then humans have a moral obligation to open their hearts to the message Pope Francis extends to the world.  Love can replace hate. Pope Francis sends a message about forgiveness that transcends sinfulness.  

Pope Francis asks us to eradicate hate from the human condition and extend love to all, especially to the poor and the millions of people in the world who are suffering from war, disease, oppression or illness.

In response, if I could replace hate with love by waving a peace wand, I would remove the hate in Syria right now, immediately, while so many people (mostly Christians) are suffering in refugee camps because of the nation's cruel civil war.

(CNN reports) St. Peter's Basilica -- Pope Francis rang in his first Christmas at the Vatican with a Christmas Eve Mass on Tuesday, preaching a message of love and forgiveness.

"On this night, let us share the joy of the Gospel. God loves us. He so loves us that he gave us his son to be our brother, to be light in our darkness. To us the Lord repeats, 'Do not be afraid,' ... And I, too, repeat, do not be afraid,'" the Pope said.

"Our Father is patient. He loves us, he gives us Jesus to guide us on the way which leads to the promised land. Jesus is the light who brightened the darkness. Our Father forgives always. He is our peace and light."

He called on the throngs gathered at St. Peter's Basilica to cast aside hatred.

"God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. Yet on the part of the people, there are times of both light and darkness, fidelity and infidelity, obedience and rebellion, times of being a pilgrim people, and times of being a people adrift," the Pope said. "In our personal history, too, there are both bright and dark moments, lights and shadows. If we love God and our brothers and sisters, we walk in the light. But if our heart is closed, if we are dominated by pride, deceit, self-seeking, then darkness falls within us, and around us. Whoever hates his brother -- writes the Apostle John -- is in the darkness; he walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has blinded his eyes."

Before the Mass, pilgrims gathering in Vatican City told CNN they were excited to celebrate with the Pope.

"We want to share this special moment with a person who is a beloved person, and we appreciate all he's doing," one woman said.

Nine months into his papacy, much has been made of the Pope's reforms, among them more scrutiny at the Vatican bank, changes to the church's bureaucratic structure, and a commission to deal with the abuse of minors.

And while this year's Christmas liturgy remains the same, experts say we should expect the unexpected.

"He tends to be a surprise, because he does things that are normal, but are very abnormal in terms of the papacy," said Gerald O'Connell, a Vatican analyst. "He brought three homeless men into where he is living to have breakfast with him on his birthday. ... I suspect we will see something else again over the Christmas period."

The festivities began on Saturday, with the Pope's Christmas message to the Curia. He urged the church's governing body to avoid gossip and to focus on service.

And then he practiced what he preached, spending three hours at a local hospital bringing Christmas cheer to sick children.

There were a record number of requests to attend this year's Christmas Eve Mass.

On Christmas Day, tens of thousands of pilgrims are expected to flood St. Peter's Square to hear his message to the world.

"People are listening to him, because he's speaking in a language that's not Vaticanese," O'Connell said. "He's speaking the language of ordinary people."

Merry Christmas and God Bless Pope Francis.