When James Holmes allegedly killed 12 people and injured dozens of others at a Colorado movie theater on July 20, it shook the entire country. Everyone wondered how someone could possibly do such a horrific thing and what his motive was. Nobody would blame victims or their family members for wanting to take revenge on Holmes. But one of his victims, Pierce O'Farrill, doesn't want vengeance. The 28-year-old actually forgives Holmes for shooting him three times during the Colorado massacre.
"Of course, I forgive him with all my heart," O'Farrill told reporters after being released from the hospital on Wednesday. "When I saw him in his hearing, I felt nothing but sorrow for him—he's just a lost soul right now."
It really isn't that surprising that O'Farrill forgives Holmes because he works for a Christian charity organization that helps people when they're in need and returns them to society as more productive citizens.
"I want to see him sometime," O'Farrill said. "The first thing I want to say to him is 'I forgive you,' and the next is, 'Can I pray for you?'"
It certainly takes a special kind of person to forgive Holmes for doing what he did. While most people would want to take revenge on Holmes, O'Farrill actually forgives him and even feels sorry for him. It might seem crazy that someone would forgive Holmes for what he did, but if it gives O'Farrill peace, then good for him. Being angry forever at someone just makes you an unhappy person and poisons those around you.
What are your thoughts? Do you applaud O'Farrill for forgiving Holmes?
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Comments: 24
Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
If you forgive, without reciprocation, then how are you moving along the true healing process?
In the past, when I have forgiven others, their dysfunctional behavior continued.
Where is the successful act of forgiveness in that?
I also believe that the "victimizer" who has asked for forgiveness and has done everything they can to make things right can experience the peace of forgiveness even if the victim refuses to forgive.
It does not matter to me--if your belief and your perception is driven by what you feel you see in the Bible.
I see Forgiveness as a full circle, involving the emotional and spiritual embodiment between the aggrieved and the inflicter.
As other posters said, if forgiving Holmes makes O'Farrill feel good and gives him peace, great. Personally, if you want to bring religion into it, I'd vote for some good old-fashioned Wrath of God-type vengeance to rain down on Holmes. And I don't care how sorry he may be -- too late.
I would add that we like to think that we are pretty "good" compared to people like Mr. Holmes. But do we really think God is going to let us off the hook for our sin against Him?
I do not think it is fair to put it in black or white terms--as if the act of forgiveness is dependent on God's existence.
You cannot necessarily underestimate the potential of human beings.
Many an atheist has forgiven.
A fundamentalist Christian might say, "Well that's the Christian in him or her--but I would somewhat disagree."
One does NOT need to be Christian to forgive--and to believe so is to see the world through a narrowed prism, I think.
I am saying if there is no God there is no reason to forgive. Forgivness is then a concept with no meaning.
If we are nothing more than a biological accident by random chance then there is no such thing as right or wrong. Thereby we have no reason for forgiveness.
See my posts:
5 Problems With Unconditional Forgiveness
Forgiving James Holmes
That does not mean that people should not suffer the consequences of their actions, just that the rest of us hold no grudge.