Forgive and Forget? Not in this small New Hampshire town where residents have threatened to burn down the Pastor's house (Raymond: crime, luxury)

[bignhfamily]

There is no good answer here.

As a citizen - Definitely wouldn't be happy about him showing up in my town but the guy served his time, like it or not these are the laws "we" have established.

As a Christian - Following Jesus, I'm supposed to forgive (though I'm much more inclined to look in the old testament Leviticus 24:19-21)

As a father - if this had been my boy, this guy would have never seen the inside of a jail. He wouldn't see anything again, he'd be in a box in the ground. Problem solved, tax payers save the money for incarcerating him for 35 years.

[CrazyDave]

There would be no issue here at all if justice was served and this man properly executed for murder. I am told that this individual has accepted the Lord as Savior, wll praise God for that, but Jesus never told the thief , today you will not pay your earthly penalty for your crimes. Since we have a weak kneed liberal justice system that gets sqeamish over doing the right thing, at the very least they could make sure life in jail means exactly that.

[Onni]

Originally Posted by minibrings

And I thought people should know better than to make sweeping generalizations about an entire group of people. .So when are you taking this nice fellow into your home? Be sure to let your neighbors know about his unique situation -- and please report back on how your neighbors welcomed a child murderer in YOUR neighborhood!

Well in 1995 my family did take in a convicted sex offender for a couple months and We had kinda the same problem as the good pastor but not on this scale. It just makes the people making the threats and getting really angry about the bloke look less human, more hateful and evil than the person who paid their debt to society and is trying to make a better life.

[sgthoskins]

Originally Posted by Onni

Well in 1995 my family did take in a convicted sex offender for a couple months and We had kinda the same problem as the good pastor but not on this scale. It just makes the people making the threats and getting really angry about the bloke look less human, more hateful and evil than the person who paid their debt to society and is trying to make a better life.

You sleep with dog you'll get fleas.

There is NO paying a debt to society in regards to murder, rape, or child molestation. NONE WHAT SO EVER.

The only reason that POS is still alive is because our justice system is a liberal joke.

[NH2008]

Originally Posted by Onni

Well in 1995 my family did take in a convicted sex offender for a couple months and We had kinda the same problem as the good pastor but not on this scale. It just makes the people making the threats and getting really angry about the bloke look less human, more hateful and evil than the person who paid their debt to society and is trying to make a better life.

I understand what you are saying about the mob mentality but come on - do you honestly believe that expressing anger over this guy moving into a neighborhood is "more hateful and evil" than murdering a young boy, kidnapping a couple, stabbing an inmate and everything else this guy did? So far, no one in this town has hurt the Pastor or the criminal, whereas he made the irreversible decision to kill people. Where is your sense of proportion?

I have never understood the phrase "paid his debt to society." You can pay back money, you can't give back a life. There is at least one family whose lives have been destroyed forever because of this man. There are children and grandchildren and so on who will never be born because a little boy was killed before he could grow up. Maybe he was destined to cure cancer, maybe he would have grown up and contributed to society in other ways - we'll never know, this man stole his future. For the rest of their lives, his family will be tortured by the reality of how he suffered before he was killed. And that's just ONE of the crimes this man committed. He could spend a lifetime in jail and he would not BEGIN to pay his debt.

[NH2NCMom]

I feel it's just as much of a slap in the face to the victim's family as he is allowed to return to the STATE where he committed the crimes. He committed the crimes right here in NH - which is why he was asked to go to Connecticut in the first place. Truly the OP didn't read the real history behind this story - just posted the AP article that has been blasted all over the internet to make the town and the townspeople look almost criminal. Yes they are angry, and yes rightfully so - they don't have to like this man or the deeds he did. The pastor might be doing a great deed, but if another child or family is hurt or worse, how is he going to feel? Yes the criminal should be in prison for life and have to register for life - and be ankle monitored for life. I love how these criminals have found that finding the Lord gets them out of jail - many use it as an excuse - but then again I guess I'm generalizing a population of criminals - rather generalize on something that has been proven many times over than the OP who generalized about a state that is time and time again proven to be the freest state in the country!

And for the record, many wonderful comments - and yes I see the pastor's point of view - I'm a Christian as well - but I still wouldn't want the chance of having this guy as my neighbor - I have kids!

[FiveHorses]

Originally Posted by NH2008

He could spend a lifetime in jail and he would not BEGIN to pay his debt.

That was what I meant, I phrased it poorly.

Originally Posted by NH2NCMom

but I still wouldn't want the chance of having this guy as my neighbor - I have kids!

Kids or no kids, it makes not an iota worth of difference. The individual should be incarcerated until he dies. End of. No "I found Jesus", no "I was mentally deranged", NO "I'm going to make a better life for myself". Tough ****. He should have thought about that before he took another life.

Lock him up and melt the key down.

As for making the people who "angry" (and ohhh no, I don't think angry even begins to go there) look "less human" - *******s. It is far, far from inhuman to feel moral outrage and abject disgust at the system that has allowed this to happen. Is it "less human" to feel unspeakable anger that this boy's family has to suffer on a daily basis living with the knowledge that while their son is DEAD, now the man who killed him gets a second chance? "Less" human, no. Quite the opposite.

[WannaComeHome]

ok, I know this is a really emotional issue for just about everybody. But if you can set aside your gut feeling and follow my thought here - just for the time it takes to read this, lets see if there's another way of looking at it.

It's a horrible, tragic thing for a child to die so young. Hey, it's a horrible, tragic thing for anyone to die of unnatural causes (then it's more sad). If you believe that God has a Plan, then you have to believe that God does things for a reason. You may not like them, you may not understand them. But faith says there is one.

While it might be true that had that young boy lived, he might have done great things, or fathered someone who does. But.. what if his entire reason for being born was to teach someone something in his death. What if.. before he was born he chose this path! His whole purpose in being alive, was to be murdered. yeah, pretty weird. What could come of such a horrible thing?

A person who was going "wrong", has found the "right" path to God. Maybe that was his whole purpose in being born? maybe his parents had to learn something really tough and this was the only way (maybe they will, maybe they won't, the boy did his bit).

Now personally, my religion has no problem with the concept of justice, even harsh justice. I'm no fan of people who do horrible things becoming a drain on society - and they most likely should not be allowed out in society. But... sometimes.... I wonder. I don't know everything. Do you? Maybe it was God's plan that he murder the child. that's why they say God works in mysterious ways.

I'm really lousy on juries. I can see both sides, and my gut feeling tends to be decisive, quick, and harsh. sometimes my brain comes and says, what if.....

[sgthoskins]

If you murder someone, you should suffer the same fate.

You have no right to live when you steal someone else's life. You not only end their life, you destroy their entire family. Murderers should NEVER be given a second chance. They should all be taken out back and die from lead poisoning.

[jmatt]

Originally Posted by sgthoskins

If you murder someone, you should suffer the same fate.

You have no right to live when you steal someone else's life. You not only end their life, you destroy their entire family. Murderers should NEVER be given a second chance. They should all be taken out back and die from lead poisoning.

So then, by your logic, if "bignhfamily" had his son killed, then killed the guy (as he said he'd do), he should be "taken out back and die from lead poisoning" as well?