Brand: Religious right-wingers usually have the most vindictive of people in charge of the whole group, without trying to generalize but that's just how it is. They certainly seem to be willing to judge people for doing a great many things. Except where they are given authority from above to break the laws, that's all right by them 'cause then the law is wrong.
Considering that forgiveness seemed to be about the only thing that got any kind of reaction out of the guy on the video, I can kinda understand what Saul of Tarsus (and note that I make a distinction between what authors of a book write and what is the suppsoed God's will and word) says about burning coal... And that quote doesn't mean that you should
turn the other cheek (oh wait, that's elsewhere on the same book)
have an eye for eye (oh wait that was on the older edition) ignore the criminal actions and leave them without any consequences of their actions, it just says you should forgive them
for they do not know what they are doing (oh wait, that was elsewhere again).
Whether you are capable or willing to forgive doesn't really matter much for the criminals, but it might make a difference to you. I don't know if I would be able to forgive someone for takign away from me something as precious as a family member, but then again I don't really see much sense in harbouring anger and/or desire for revenge against the perpetrator. I hope I'll never need to find out.
Also, engaging in acts of vigilantism to exact revenge upon a supposed killer of someone close to you is a good way to ruin your own life in addition to the victim(s) of the killer. The emotional basis for revenge is easily understandable but logically easy to dismantle and show as what it most often is - misguided protective instinct (the need to do the right thing "for the victims"), and secondarily . Instinct to protect one's offspring and companion in life in addition to pretecting oneself runs deep in most beings, and failing in that self-imposed task makes people angry and frustrated, and it would feel that destroying the source of it all would take the pain away, but usually it doesn't, since the damage is done, the victim(s) won't come back - or in fact, gain anything from your act of violence - and after the killer is dead, what's left for you? Becoming roommates with a big guy called Bubba?
Think about it this way - if you were killed or murdered (which are not quite the same thing), would you want your parent to kill the one responsible (I'm assuming here that they would even get the right person, which isn't even certain) and end up in jail for the rest of their life?
I certainly wouldn't want that.
Sure, I would want that no one else would need to suffer the same end, but it should be done in a way that doesn't require my family members to sacrifice their own lives on the altar of revenge. Justice system imposed detainment for life would be quite sufficient. Death penalty in general I see as unnecessary relief for criminals - if you think about it, everyone dies at some point anyway, so what's the hurry? It just lets them get away from that big guy called Bubba, and other pleasantries of penintentiary facilities. In the end, regardless of what comes after it, everyone gets the same end anyway.
Incidentally, the same guy that G0atmaster quoted also claims God to have claimed that he'll exact vengeance as he sees fit (some consider this as God claiming exclusive right to vengeance), so I guess there goes the loving God image campaign crashing down again...
