Posted on 04/30/2006 10:19:15 AM PDT by jmc1969
Michael Berg has come to terms with his son's murderer. But to most Americans that man is still enemy No.1, writes Martin Daly in New York.
In the darkness, when the pain becomes too great, Michael Berg pulls out a chair for the man who decapitated his son and talks to him about compassion and forgiveness.
Michael Berg has cried publicly many times for his dead son but he has forgiven Zarqawi, considered by the Americans to be the premier threat to peace in Iraq, but who remains free despite a $US25 million ($33 million) bounty on his head, and the huge numbers of personnel and technological resources being used to track him down.
In offering forgiveness to a man who this week told the world he planned to continue killing, Berg has had to go down dark, complex paths and has had to come to terms with an horrendous loss that has become public property.
(Excerpt) Read more at smh.com.au ...
More evidence that the Left has gone completely insane.
Interesting. A man forgives the man who killed his son. That's not an easy thing to do, I'd imagine. I've seen it happen a few times in horrible murder cases.
Yet, it's what Christians are called upon to do. It's a rare person who can manage it.
I will say nothing bad about a man who can bring himself to follow his beliefs that far.
I'm a parent, and I think not.
There is a middle ground between forgiveness and hatred. That is the pursuit of justice.
You have to get on with your life, yes. You may give up the desire for revenge. But that does not mean that you offer your forgiveness to the murderer. Especially if he has not asked for it. If he does, well, Christ commanded us to forgive, so you'd have to make the effort, I guess.
But suppose the murderer intends to kill other men's sons? Only a complete moral leper would consider forgiving him. And a moral leper is what Mr. Berg is.
I AM a parent, and I can assure you that I would without hesitation prefer the latter.
Too bad he could not exchange himself for his son's unfotunate fate..
Had someone done this to my son I would not have ever been able to recover my sanity. When my kids get sick with the flu I freak out like a little old fretful granny.
The cult of Islam itself is monstrous, of course, and breeds the Attas and Bin Ladens and Zarqawis. Still, I lived abroad, and know many muslims who I count as friends, Sunni, Shite and Druze, and they are not massively screwed up, nor savages. Nor do they want to kill me or trample on who we are.
I feel deeply sad for this man; more, I feel compelled to excuse him his lunacy, and understand entirely his hope that muslims might see reason. There is no such thing as false hope (from Milton to presnt day individuals throw this term around -one may either hope, or have no hope). He is hopeful, and I would not begrudge him that, especially given the horror he's faced.
I have hope. Or perhaps more accurately, I have not lost hope: that we will win, that we will achieve peace, that the middle east will find a non-violent, non hateful way forward.
Sorry for the tender moment.
"Hell! It wasn't MY head!"
Nor will I.
I agree with him on this point.
Couldn't get past the first page. Berg is disgusting. Sure, he's gone down some dark paths because he encouraged Nick to go over there and sneak around with the thugs. Do you not remember that? He's only forgiving the murder because he can't live with own involvement. If all is forgiven, then he's off the hook as well. But then again, making this a public matter instead of keeping it within himself will gain him some publicity for his congressional run. He's more dispicable than Cindy.
"Nor will I."
Thanks. On the other hand, that doesn't mean I'd vote for this guy for elected office.
Crazy as a crack house rat
=================================
I'm with ya.
One can forgive but still hold someone accountable.
this surprises anyone??
Immediately after that horrific video Berg's old man was running in front of every camera possible saying his son "died because of the sins of George Bush and Dick Cheney"...
it was never Zarqawi's fault...always the fault of the US President!
Did Zarqawi ask for forgivess, say he was wrong to do it, sorry, or regretted it?
Great reply, Chesley. In today's cloud-cuckoo world, ideas may be declared evil, but the people who hold and generate such ideas must be "understood."
Yet actions (or inactions) inflicted by people are what really cause suffering.
There really is no difference between the sin and the sinner, except that the sinner has the ability to understand and then regret and disavow the sin.
If Berg's father wishes to embrace that which it is evil, it makes him as evil as those who commit such acts.
This will not be said any place but FR since to do so would be to force people to confront the contemptible lies by which they avoid contemplating the consequences of their actions.
McVey
If America is evil then the enemy of America must be good - even if that enemy has beheaded your son. Liberals believe that they do good. What they really do is support causes that lead to the deaths of people by the millions. Recall that famous saying by Lincoln Steffens who visited Russia in 1919 and when he returned in 1921 commented, "I have seen the future and it works." Yes indeed - it worked to kill 30,000,000 people. Michael Berg is just one of the more recent in a long series of ignorant do-gooders.
I can understand not wanting to live with a raging hatred eating up one's insides, but I hope that he understands his offer of forgiveness is contingent upon Zarqawi repenting--which of course requires him recognizing what he did was wrong. I don't see that happening.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.