rapist found guilty http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4771619.stm

[unruliejulie]

This lunchtime the annmouncement was made that the killer of Rochelle Holness has been jailed for life. Her mother shouted "Rot in Hell" I applaud her and her feelings for her daughters killer. When Anthony Walkers Mother said she forgave her sons killer, i found it very difficult to understand.I would NEVER forgive!! My question is, could you forgive anyone who murdered your son/daughter etc....

[unruliejulie]

sorry, heres the link to the story http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4985468.stm

[Dolly1308]

no!

[4getmenot]

You�re right. I can�t understand Anthonys mum either. But then some people who are very religious understand that you have to forgive. I myself know I could never forgive anyone for hurting any of my family. But sometimes to get on with life it is possible to forgive but not to forget.

[unruliejulie]

I think Mrs Walker will have a happier life by forgiving her sons killer, its just that i really couldn't forgive anyone who had cut short the life of one of my precious sons. I find it really difficult to understand how they do it. There was the case of the lady Vicar whos daughter died in 7/7. She quit the church because she couldn't forgive the terrorists.. Totally understandable in my view. I think,if i was was religious, that that would be when my faith wavered.

[Ward-Minter]

Probably the rapist will be let out in a few months by the Home Secretary and the mother will do a 5 year stretch for contempt of court.

To answer your question, I can not forgive anybody who kills anybody. Let alone my kids. If they did, i would happily devote my life to non-stop torture of the killer. I would simply keep them in a soundproof cellar.

Over a period of time I would....................

1) Break every finger/toe/rib one per day

2) Sever penis and smash knee caps (assuming man)

3) Blind an eye slowly,

4) Puncture one lung

5) Make them injest weed killer and raw chicken

6) Tie the sensitive bit of skin between nostrils up with cheese wire.

6)

[unruliejulie]

and i would just come and find you WM!! Sounds good to me! what is no. 6?

[flip-flop]

What WM said.

That should get the Guardian reading wooly liberal hand wringers out in force.

[Lonnie]

Agree with everything said above.

[LaLaLand2006]

I've found some definitions of To forgive...

To excuse for a fault or an offense; pardon.
To renounce anger or resentment against.
To absolve from payment of (a debt, for example).

How can you excuse someone for killing a loved one? How can you not be angry for having someone taken away from you? It doesn't necessarily have to destroy your life or become obsession. You can still feel hurt and anger. You can move on but never forget what has been taken away from you or in what circumstances.

It is often religious people who insist on the importance of forgiving... Is that because they feel they won't get into heaven if they are angry or resentful?

[horselady]

I could never forgive someone who killed my child. I remember when little Jamie Bulger was murdered and his mother said she would spend her life hunting the killers down when they were released from prison. That's what I would want to do.

[unruliejulie]

you see, to me horselady, that is any loving parents natural reaction, so how can they forgive??? I too would hunt them down and get my own justice! I would never rest untill i did that.

[dot.hawkes]

I hunted down and smacked the lad who jumped on my 16 year old daughter when she went to the co-op for a pint of milk 5 years ago. He was dumbstruck and said 'owe' so i slapped him again and burst his lip. He broke her rib and she got �1300 compensation, he drops his head when I see him now, wimp. I am not a violent person but sometimes a parent gets instinctively protective, to the point of vengence.

[unruliejulie]

Good for you Dot!!!

[dot.hawkes]

It didn't stop him and his mates getting put in lancaster farm for throwing wheelie bins thru the Indian takaway and hurling racial abuse at them tho. :(

[libertie]

Are you trying to say that Mrs Walker was not a loving parent because she could forgive the killers of her child?! As a parent I cannot imagine the horror of having one of my sons murdered and do not know if I could ever forgive the person who did it! But maybe she just sees past her own heartache and is doing what she thinks is best for the rest of her family and allowing them to get on with their lives...bad enough that she has lost one son without having to watch the rest of her family being swallowed up by hate and thoughts of revenge, thereby screwing up the rest of their lives!!

[WaldoMcFroog]

Oooh, reactionary right wingers in complete over-reaction-that-they-all-know-in-their-hearts-they-would-never-ever-ever-have-the-balls-to-actually-carry-out-if-it-ever-came-to-it shocker. <wrings hands, knits pasta etc>

Yawn city...

Queue reactionary right wingers taking umbridge at affront to their posturing and posting they really would go through with their preposterous claims until thread dissolves in a puddle of misplaced machismo.

Surely it is a matter for the respective mothers how they choose to conduct themselves. I have no idea how I would feel and hope never to find out.

[jno]

forgiveness won't be any use to the person you forgive; it's for the benefit of your own soul. You can spend your life being eaten up by anger and dreams of revenge, or you can get over it (which doesn't mean forgetting the person who's been wronged). I'm not saying it's an easy choice - in fact it may not be a choice at all, since many people wouldn't be able to do it. But my guess is Mrs Walker will live longer and happier within herself than if she spent the rest of her life consumed with bitterness.

[LaLaLand2006]

I believe people can get too bogged down in the word Forgive. It can mean different things to different people. If you mean forgive simply in terms of Moving On then yes, I agree - that is healthy. But to strictly Forgive in the context of the definitions as posted above, then no - I could never Excuse someone.

[unruliejulie]

I am NOT saying that at all libertie, if you re-read my post, you will see what i meant, i said its any loving parents natural reaction so how can THEY forgive? Not, shes forgiven them because she wasn't a loving mother, far from it. I think she is a wonderful mother and i can't begin to understand her pain, but also i just can't understand how she finds it in her heart to forgive them. I have great admiration for her and i am not critisizing her in ANY way, just trying to understand how!.

[unruliejulie]

WaldoMcFroog, i've given you 3 stars for replying, even though i haven't got a clue what your post means!