Jesus was saying that the heart of a murderer is dark and evil. And that other people’s hearts are also dark and evil....their hearts are the same as the person who acts on his hatred; but really the two are the same, inside. It is the hate and the evil that is the catalyst for the murder. Get rid of the hate and the evil, and there will be no murder.
Jesus was not excusing all murderers and calling for their release from charges, but rather, calling His followers to give up their sinful minds to His regenerating power, so that murders would not happen!
Using this man’s reasoning, and outlook on what Jesus wanted, and I am a follower of Jesus Christ, we should dismantle our justice system altogether. No one can be arrested, or punished, because we are all guilty!
Hardly the way God wants the world, is it? He is a God of Justice and laws. I would remind Mr. 4Christ, that Christians believe that Jesus is part of God..the same God who wrote the laws of the old Testament. You know, while Jesus walked the streets of Jerusalem, there were people hung on the cross every single day. He didn’t try to stop their punishment. Shoot, He didn’t even try to stop the adulteress from being stoned. He said, “go ahead”...
Those who show mercy, will be given mercy. I believe that Ms Atkins has been shown a large amount of mercy. She should “count it all joy” and suffer her sentence as a follower of Jesus Christ.
I do not know what is in the heart of Susan Atkins, only G-D can know what is in a person’s heart.
I do not believe that people who obey the law (both secular and scriptural) are JUST AS EVIL INSIDE as people who do commit murder and other heinous crimes. You can never abolish hatred from a human being’s heart anymore than you can abolish love—these are emotions that exist within everyone, but people are expected to control their bad emotions and not act on them.
It is not uncommon for sociopaths to manipulate well-meaning prison chaplains into believing they have been “saved” and are therefore entitled to “stuff” such as favorable parole board reviews, early release, and other earthly favors.