Is it possible to truely forgive someone and press charges at the same time?

[Flat Earth Kyle]

Forgiveness is not holding a grudge against someone, not having any resentment. Even if one doesn't have resentment or hold a grudge, that doesn't mean the forgiving party needs to set a criminal loose on society.

Well, to each there own.
As I said before, I hope God forgives me the way I strive to forgive others.
As in I hope God decides not to put me through Hell before he permits me to dwell with him.

 

[oldbadger]

Well, to each there own.
As I said before, I hope God forgives me the way I strive to forgive others.
As in I hope God decides not to put me through Hell before he permits me to dwell with him.

Hello....! Excuse me (forgive me!) but I'm late to this thread.

I have read some of the posts, but thought it might be easier if I just asked a couple of questions straight off..... Is that OK?

By forgiving others (as you described above) are you hoping to increase your own chances of forgiveness and salvation by God?

 

[oldbadger]

................................................
As in I hope God decides not to put me through Hell before he permits me to dwell with him.

One more question.......

We are all sinners.
If God offered you the chance to save all sinners who ever had existed in all time, but the price you would have to pay would be your own soul, your own place in heaven by him................ would you agree? Would you do it?

Would you give up your soul and go to everlasting damnation, alone, in order to save the rest of mankind from it's sins?

 

[McBell]

Well, to each there own.
As I said before, I hope God forgives me the way I strive to forgive others.
As in I hope God decides not to put me through Hell before he permits me to dwell with him.

Are you saying that you are hoping God will forgo justice as part and parcel of his forgiveness?
That Gods forgiveness should be what you think forgiveness is supposed to be?
That the reason you would not press charges is because you hope God will follow your example and not "press charges" when he forgives you?
Is a deity who would forgo justice in the guise of forgiveness a deity worth worshiping?

 

[dust1n]

I think your missing the point of forgiveness.

You only have to forgive someone if you resent what they did to you. Forgiveness is your ability to remove your own hurt so you can get on with your life. What it does to the other person has no bearing on the forgiveness.

I think you are going to find dispute in the Christian community about that, since your particular view on forgiveness would trivial the supposed forgiveness of Christ dying on a cross. When your religion is kinda centered on this main idea of God forgiving you, it's particularly strange to think of forgiveness as something to self-serve, when one's idea of forgiveness is rooted in giving up a demi-god.

 

[Flat Earth Kyle]

Are you saying that you are hoping God will forgo justice as part and parcel of his forgiveness?
That Gods forgiveness should be what you think forgiveness is supposed to be?
That the reason you would not press charges is because you hope God will follow your example and not "press charges" when he forgives you?
Is a deity who would forgo justice in the guise of forgiveness a deity worth worshiping?

Ah the Battle of Justice and Mercy good observations!

This short video should answer your question perfectly
[youtube]Is8TolSYftU[/youtube]
Jesus Christ, the Mediator (Seminary Video) - YouTube

 

[Flat Earth Kyle]

Hello....! Excuse me (forgive me!) but I'm late to this thread.

I have read some of the posts, but thought it might be easier if I just asked a couple of questions straight off..... Is that OK?

By forgiving others (as you described above) are you hoping to increase your own chances of forgiveness and salvation by God?

In answer to your question I am merely striving to apply this scripture passage to my life.

Matthew 18:21-35
"21 ¶Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
23 ¶Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses."

In order for me to obtain God's forgiveness I need to ask God. But if I expect to retain my forgiveness I need to forgive others as God has forgiven me.

 

[Flat Earth Kyle]

One more question.......

We are all sinners.
If God offered you the chance to save all sinners who ever had existed in all time, but the price you would have to pay would be your own soul, your own place in heaven by him................ would you agree? Would you do it?

Would you give up your soul and go to everlasting damnation, alone, in order to save the rest of mankind from it's sins?

I don't see how your question relates to anything, for even Christ did not have to suffer an eternity alone in everlasting damnation.

 

[oldbadger]

In answer to your question I am merely striving to apply this scripture passage to my life.

In order for me to obtain God's forgiveness I need to ask God. But if I expect to retain my forgiveness I need to forgive others as God has forgiven me.

Hello again.......

I did need to focus on your answer (above) to my question, which was:-
By forgiving others................ are you hoping to increase your own chances of forgiveness and salvation by God?

So, basically, your main-objective is to save yourself? Yes?
I'm only asking..... it's not a trick question......

 

[Flat Earth Kyle]

Hello again.......

I did need to focus on your answer (above) to my question, which was:-
By forgiving others................ are you hoping to increase your own chances of forgiveness and salvation by God?

So, basically, your main-objective is to save yourself? Yes?
I'm only asking..... it's not a trick question......

I feel like I answered the question accurately before.
I feel the need to forgive others so I can retain the the forgiveness God has granted me. So I guess you could say that forgiving others is an attempt to keep oneself safe. It isn't like they really need my forgiveness, I don't believe God is going to condemn them if I don't forgive them, rather I believe God would condemn me if I didn't forgive them. It is really nice and relieving when someone forgives you though. It is kind of like mutually eliminating a defensive barrier that stood between two people. I enjoy it when I don't have to feel defensive all the time.

 

[oldbadger]

I feel like I answered the question accurately before.
I feel the need to forgive others so I can retain the the forgiveness God has granted me. So I guess you could say that forgiving others is an attempt to keep oneself safe. It isn't like they really need my forgiveness, I don't believe God is going to condemn them if I don't forgive them, rather I believe God would condemn me if I didn't forgive them. It is really nice and relieving when someone forgives you though. It is kind of like mutually eliminating a defensive barrier that stood between two people. I enjoy it when I don't have to feel defensive all the time.

OK. Thanks for your reply. I know how hard it can be to just stand up and say 'yes!'...... or 'No!' to a question, when people might be waiting to jump upon straight answers.

My turn to stand up. For me the words 'forgive' or 'forgiveness' don't have much value, simply because I think that they have been 'misused' over time. The words that I connect with best are 'understanding' and 'acceptance'. Often, people would say to me, 'I committed this crime because......' and after their explanation I would have a better understanding of their mindset and motive. Then I would be more able to accept how they came to do whatever they did. And so 'understanding' and 'acceptance' is as far as I ever got with criminals.

I never thought that I had the right to forgive anybody, only to try to understand them and accept their explanations. Equally, I would much prefer it if folks would try to understand me, and accept my explanations. It just made life more simple for me. I'll take my chance with God over this. Maybe God would understand........?

 

[Flat Earth Kyle]

OK. Thanks for your reply. I know how hard it can be to just stand up and say 'yes!'...... or 'No!' to a question, when people might be waiting to jump upon straight answers.

My turn to stand up. For me the words 'forgive' or 'forgiveness' don't have much value, simply because I think that they have been 'misused' over time. The words that I connect with best are 'understanding' and 'acceptance'. Often, people would say to me, 'I committed this crime because......' and after their explanation I would have a better understanding of their mindset and motive. Then I would be more able to accept how they came to do whatever they did. And so 'understanding' and 'acceptance' is as far as I ever got with criminals.

I never thought that I had the right to forgive anybody, only to try to understand them and accept their explanations. Equally, I would much prefer it if folks would try to understand me, and accept my explanations. It just made life more simple for me. I'll take my chance with God over this. Maybe God would understand........?

What you say makes sense and sounds like a rational definition of forgiveness.
I do notice however that it does not say however weather or not you condemn them for their choices.
"I understand why you have decided to kill my friend here and why you did so (you were jealous of him and he did nothing wrong towards you) and I even accept the reasons why you killed him (even though you knew it was wrong to kill him, you killed him because you wanted his stuff), and now I condemn you to die..." I dunno, is that really accepting someones reasons for committing a crime?

I believe forgiveness is all about choosing not to condemn someone and to let all charges drop.

 

[oldbadger]

What you say makes sense and sounds like a rational definition of forgiveness.
I do notice however that it does not say however weather or not you condemn them for their choices.
"I understand why you have decided to kill my friend here and why you did so (you were jealous of him and he did nothing wrong towards you) and I even accept the reasons why you killed him (even though you knew it was wrong to kill him, you killed him because you wanted his stuff), and now I condemn you to die..." I dunno, is that really accepting someones reasons for committing a crime?

I believe forgiveness is all about choosing not to condemn someone and to let all charges drop.

In your example, (above), you have portrayed a person with little understanding and no acceptance, but lots of condemnation. I live in a land where people are not allowed to take the law into their own hands. We are not allowed to indite, charge, try, convict or sentence anybody for any crime. But we are allowed to detain and hold crimes,and report them, and make statements about them.

Now that is totally different to anything that you have mentioned in this thread. The whole tenet of our law is about arresting 'CRIMES'. Technically we detain or arrest crimes, rather than people. This tenet protects people who (for instance) arrest a minor under the age of criminal responsibility. So if you are in England and you see a ten year old kid beat another child (say,) to the ground with a hammer, you could (legally) detain the crime by holding the child, calling the police (and an ambulance!), making statement, and, if necessary giving evidence.

It would be up to the system, the Judges, etc to decide whether to forgive and release, or to understand and take some action.

But a christian who stood by and watched, and did nothing, and forgave everybody, but left justice undone.............. would never have pleased Jesus, in my opinion. Jesus had a strong sense of justice. Nor would that christian be considered a worthy citizen, who lets anybody do anything to anyone and walk free........... thus contributing to the collapse of society through lawlessness.

I think that Utah holds the death-penalty for some murder-crimes. How do you feel about that?

 

[Flat Earth Kyle]

In your example, (above), you have portrayed a person with little understanding and no acceptance, but lots of condemnation. I live in a land where people are not allowed to take the law into their own hands. We are not allowed to indite, charge, try, convict or sentence anybody for any crime. But we are allowed to detain and hold crimes,and report them, and make statements about them.

Now that is totally different to anything that you have mentioned in this thread. The whole tenet of our law is about arresting 'CRIMES'. Technically we detain or arrest crimes, rather than people. This tenet protects people who (for instance) arrest a minor under the age of criminal responsibility. So if you are in England and you see a ten year old kid beat another child (say,) to the ground with a hammer, you could (legally) detain the crime by holding the child, calling the police (and an ambulance!), making statement, and, if necessary giving evidence.

It would be up to the system, the Judges, etc to decide whether to forgive and release, or to understand and take some action.

But a christian who stood by and watched, and did nothing, and forgave everybody, but left justice undone.............. would never have pleased Jesus, in my opinion. Jesus had a strong sense of justice. Nor would that christian be considered a worthy citizen, who lets anybody do anything to anyone and walk free........... thus contributing to the collapse of society through lawlessness.

I think that Utah holds the death-penalty for some murder-crimes. How do you feel about that?

So immediately in the scenario you have given you do not accept the actions of the kid beating the other kid to the ground with the hammer, if you truly accepted it would you call it a crime and try to stop it, or would you allow it to continue to happen?

From what I understand any time a person commits a crime a person is taking something away from another person, be it a right, a privilege, a person's health, a person's family, or a person's material possessions. I very much believe in Justice, and I also very much believe in mercy, but as explained in the video I posted, Mercy can not rob Justice and so to appease the demands of Justice we need a mediator, a second person who can step in and restore that which was lost to the victim and pay the price that Justice no longer has any demands upon the Criminal except that their savior is their new creditor.

Does that make sense?

 

[oldbadger]

So immediately in the scenario you have given

No. I took my time to write what I wrote.......

you do n

ot accept the actions of the kid beating the other kid to the ground with the hammer, if you truly accepted it would you call it a crime and try to stop it, or would you allow it to continue to happen?

What do you mean by 'you do not accept the action of....? In my scenario a person sees the crime happen..... no chance to stop it! It's over! Happened!

You write '..... if you truly accepted it you would call it a crime....' That is exactly what English law calls it, and in England we detain crimes, rather than people, an important tenet. Just like I told you in the last post.
In your first para you ask....'would you continue to allow it to happen?' It has happened. It is over. OK?

From what I understand any time a person commits a crime a person is taking something away from another person, be it a right, a privilege, a person's health, a person's family, or a person's material possessions.

OK......

I very much believe in Justice.................................................................... Does that make sense?

Not yet....... I just need a bit more clarity about this. In your OP you wrote:-

deep down my heart still feels inclined to say no, it wouldn't be true forgiveness if I were still to press charges even in the case of murder.

You have to decide how you would really react to a crime. Suppose you saw a man walk into a foodmarket, take three bottles of Jack-Daniels bourbon from a display and just walk out without paying. What, if anything, would you do? Your answer will make your concept more clear to me.

Oh.... and you did not answer my last question, which was 'What do you think about the State of Utah upholding the death penalty for certain murder-crimes?'

 

[dawny0826]

Is it possible to forgive someone and and still press charges against someone?

When first thinking about it the instinctive answer is no, but then thinking about it on a larger scale if someone were to intrude into your house and attack a member of your family seriously injure them or even kill them, then they run away and the police catch them. Afterwords you say, "I forgive you for what you have done", and then have the police throw them into prison. Is that true forgiveness?

It is harder to say now, but deep down my heart still feels inclined to say no, it wouldn't be true forgiveness if I were still to press charges even in the case of murder.

What do you think?

I think that forgiveness is primarily a heart matter and is usually most beneficial for the person doing the forgiving.

I do think that those who sue or press charges for the trivial may be acting in a manner which is conflicting to the principle of forgiving. It's contingent upon the offense. Forgivenss, again, is something that happens internally. You've made a decision to forgive another for their trespasses. That doesn't mean that the person will not be punished for their offense, particularly if they've done something heinous like murder or intentionally injure another.

I do think that many law suits are ridiculous. I can't reasonably fathom that one has genuinely forgiven another if they move forward with an optional "punishment".

It's the like the recent article on the family who found a knife if their Wal-Mart cake. It was obvious that the knife was left on the baking sheet on accident. No one was hurt.
The cake itself was fine. The family went to the media and is now seeking a lawyer to sue. However, they've said that they aren't holding grudges and will continue to shop at the establishment.

http://www.kvoa.com/news/knife-found-in-walmart-cake/

I think that this type of retaliation is ridiculous and I'm not of the opinion that people make these sorts of decisions from a wholesome place.

 

[Flat Earth Kyle]

No. I took my time to write what I wrote.......

you do n
What do you mean by 'you do not accept the action of....? In my scenario a person sees the crime happen..... no chance to stop it! It's over! Happened!

You write '..... if you truly accepted it you would call it a crime....' That is exactly what English law calls it, and in England we detain crimes, rather than people, an important tenet. Just like I told you in the last post.
In your first para you ask....'would you continue to allow it to happen?' It has happened. It is over. OK?


OK......



Not yet....... I just need a bit more clarity about this. In your OP you wrote:-



You have to decide how you would really react to a crime. Suppose you saw a man walk into a foodmarket, take three bottles of Jack-Daniels bourbon from a display and just walk out without paying. What, if anything, would you do? Your answer will make your concept more clear to me.

Oh.... and you did not answer my last question, which was 'What do you think about the State of Utah upholding the death penalty for certain murder-crimes?'

What does "Accepting a person's decisions" mean to you?

For me Accepting a person's decision is saying, "alright I understand your reasoning and find your behavior as acceptable behavior."
If I did not accept a person's decision I would say, "Your behavior is unacceptable and needs to be stopped.

 

[Freedomelf]

This was a dilemma I faced before I divorced. My ex husband molested my mentally challenged daughter (his step-daughter) for years behind my back, but when I found out about it, he begged me to forgive him because he was seriously mentally ill himself and desperately needed my support. I forgave him, until I read an email from him to my son many months later, in which he told him, "I want you to know that I'm not, nor have I ever been, mentally ill. I only told your mom that because I was embarrassed that she found out." Although he did not molest my daughter again (I saw to that) he did cheat on me with other women and lied, lied, lied lied lied. We divorced in 2008.

He had a mistress while we were together (behind my back, while daily swearing his undying love to me and expressing extreme gratitude that I forgave him). After he moved in with her, he told the whole family that I "forced" him into a relationship with my daughter because I was cold and unloving. He then continued to tell more lies about me, saying I tried to poison him, I turned our son against him, and that I was a criminal. (He was, in fact, a convicted felon, while I never did a dang thing except get arrested for truancy when I was 13...ONCE.) He was furious when I told the court about his relationship with my daughter. He tried to pretend that she was a "normal" adult and that she "came on" to him, but I presented proof of her disability and the fact that her father is her legal guardian. The court was disgusted by him, and he felt that I persecuted him in court just to get alimony from him. He thought I was the one who owed HIM an apology for revealing his behavior to the world.

To this day, my ex does not feel that he needs forgiveness because he believes that the root of all his problems was me. I was at fault for everything, because I drove him to do everything. He has also told himself his own lies so often that now he believes them, and really thinks I tried to poison him. He has also told me that he is willing to "forgive and forget" what I did to him if I will stop court-ordered support (my therapist thinks I was too good to him, but of course my ex thinks I duped the therapist). I will not give up support. He says that I am very unforgiving for continuing to "sponge" off of him. The court gave me alimony, and I deserve it. The fact that he thinks that he is the one who is owed an apology, instead of my daughter and I, makes it extremely difficult to forgive him, but in my heart, I think I have.

I ask God to heal him and make him whole. I do not hate him, and wish him well. I've never turned his son against him, and have often done the opposite and asked our adult son to forgive him (he will not do so until his father stops blaming me and shows remorse.) I pray for him, but I do not wish to see him or have any contact with him that I can possibly avoid. Is that being "unforgiving?" I don't believe so. I guess what it boils down to is, you don't have to be a glutton for punishment in order to be a forgiving person.

You have an obligation to be truthful and to obey the law, and to see to it that those who have disobeyed the law are dealt with. Witnesses cannot say, "Well, I forgive him, so I won't testify against him." That is not being responsible and God would not bless you for that. JMHO

 

[Flat Earth Kyle]

This was a dilemma I faced before I divorced. My ex husband molested my mentally challenged daughter (his step-daughter) for years behind my back, but when I found out about it, he begged me to forgive him because he was seriously mentally ill himself and desperately needed my support. I forgave him, until I read an email from him to my son many months later, in which he told him, "I want you to know that I'm not, nor have I ever been, mentally ill. I only told your mom that because I was embarrassed that she found out." Although he did not molest my daughter again (I saw to that) he did cheat on me with other women and lied, lied, lied lied lied. We divorced in 2008.

He had a mistress while we were together (behind my back, while daily swearing his undying love to me and expressing extreme gratitude that I forgave him). After he moved in with her, he told the whole family that I "forced" him into a relationship with my daughter because I was cold and unloving. He then continued to tell more lies about me, saying I tried to poison him, I turned our son against him, and that I was a criminal. (He was, in fact, a convicted felon, while I never did a dang thing except get arrested for truancy when I was 13...ONCE.) He was furious when I told the court about his relationship with my daughter. He tried to pretend that she was a "normal" adult and that she "came on" to him, but I presented proof of her disability and the fact that her father is her legal guardian. The court was disgusted by him, and he felt that I persecuted him in court just to get alimony from him. He thought I was the one who owed HIM an apology for revealing his behavior to the world.

To this day, my ex does not feel that he needs forgiveness because he believes that the root of all his problems was me. I was at fault for everything, because I drove him to do everything. He has also told himself his own lies so often that now he believes them, and really thinks I tried to poison him. He has also told me that he is willing to "forgive and forget" what I did to him if I will stop court-ordered support (my therapist thinks I was too good to him, but of course my ex thinks I duped the therapist). I will not give up support. He says that I am very unforgiving for continuing to "sponge" off of him. The court gave me alimony, and I deserve it. The fact that he thinks that he is the one who is owed an apology, instead of my daughter and I, makes it extremely difficult to forgive him, but in my heart, I think I have.

I ask God to heal him and make him whole. I do not hate him, and wish him well. I've never turned his son against him, and have often done the opposite and asked our adult son to forgive him (he will not do so until his father stops blaming me and shows remorse.) I pray for him, but I do not wish to see him or have any contact with him that I can possibly avoid. Is that being "unforgiving?" I don't believe so. I guess what it boils down to is, you don't have to be a glutton for punishment in order to be a forgiving person.

You have an obligation to be truthful and to obey the law, and to see to it that those who have disobeyed the law are dealt with. Witnesses cannot say, "Well, I forgive him, so I won't testify against him." That is not being responsible and God would not bless you for that. JMHO

Sounds really tough. I do believe in honoring and obeying the law and if someone commits murder I am obligated to report it, otherwise I am an accomplice to that murder. Am I pressing charges by doing so? No.
Now as I previously said, the New Testament does not teach that we should press charges against any offender in any way.
I believe the following... Please tell me if you agree.

"If men will smite you, or your families, once, and ye bear it patiently and revile not against them, neither seek revenge, ye shall be rewarded;
24 But if ye bear it not patiently, it shall be accounted unto you as being meted out as a just measure unto you.
25 And again, if your enemy shall smite you the second time, and you revile not against your enemy, and bear it patiently, your reward shall be an hundred-fold.
26 And again, if he shall smite you the third time, and ye bear it patiently, your reward shall be doubled unto you four-fold;
27 And these three testimonies shall stand against your enemy if he repent not, and shall not be blotted out.
28 And now, verily I say unto you, if that enemy shall escape my vengeance, that he be not brought into judgment before me, then ye shall see to it that ye warn him in my name, that he come no more upon you, neither upon your family, even your children’s children unto the third and fourth generation.
29 And then, if he shall come upon you or your children, or your children’s children unto the third and fourth generation, I have delivered thine enemy into thine hands;
30 And then if thou wilt spare him, thou shalt be rewarded for thy righteousness; and also thy children and thy children’s children unto the third and fourth generation.
31 Nevertheless, thine enemy is in thine hands; and if thou rewardest him according to his works thou art justified; if he has sought thy life, and thy life is endangered by him, thine enemy is in thine hands and thou art justified.
32 Behold, this is the law I gave unto my servant Nephi, and thy fathers, Joseph, and Jacob, and Isaac, and Abraham, and all mine ancient prophets and apostles.
33 And again, this is the law that I gave unto mine ancients, that they should not go out unto battle against any nation, kindred, tongue, or people, save I, the Lord, commanded them.
34 And if any nation, tongue, or people should proclaim war against them, they should first lift a standard of peace unto that people, nation, or tongue;
35 And if that people did not accept the offering of peace, neither the second nor the third time, they should bring these testimonies before the Lord;
36 Then I, the Lord, would give unto them a commandment, and justify them in going out to battle against that nation, tongue, or people.
37 And I, the Lord, would fight their battles, and their children’s battles, and their children’s children’s, until they had avenged themselves on all their enemies, to the third and fourth generation.
38 Behold, this is an ensample unto all people, saith the Lord your God, for justification before me.
39 And again, verily I say unto you, if after thine enemy has come upon thee the first time, he repent and come unto thee praying thy forgiveness, thou shalt forgive him, and shalt hold it no more as a testimony against thine enemy—
40 And so on unto the second and third time; and as oft as thine enemy repenteth of the trespass wherewith he has trespassed against thee, thou shalt forgive him, until seventy times seven.
41 And if he trespass against thee and repent not the first time, nevertheless thou shalt forgive him.
42 And if he trespass against thee the second time, and repent not, nevertheless thou shalt forgive him.
43 And if he trespass against thee the third time, and repent not, thou shalt also forgive him.
44 But if he trespass against thee the fourth time thou shalt not forgive him, but shalt bring these testimonies before the Lord; and they shall not be blotted out until he repent and reward thee four-fold in all things wherewith he has trespassed against thee.
45 And if he do this, thou shalt forgive him with all thine heart; and if he do not this, I, the Lord, will avenge thee of thine enemy an hundred-fold;
46 And upon his children, and upon his children’s children of all them that hate me, unto the third and fourth generation.
47 But if the children shall repent, or the children’s children, and turn to the Lord their God, with all their hearts and with all their might, mind, and strength, and restore four-fold for all their trespasses wherewith they have trespassed, or wherewith their fathers have trespassed, or their fathers’ fathers, then thine indignation shall be turned away;
48 And vengeance shall no more come upon them, saith the Lord thy God, and their trespasses shall never be brought any more as a testimony before the Lord against them. Amen."

 

[oldbadger]

What does "Accepting a person's decisions" mean to you?

For me Accepting a person's decision is saying, "alright I understand your reasoning and find your behavior as acceptable behavior."
If I did not accept a person's decision I would say, "Your behavior is unacceptable and needs to be stopped.

Good post! I agree with the above; same as you.

Now, as I was asking:-
1. Suppose you saw a man walk into a foodmarket, take three bottles of Jack-Daniels bourbon from a display and just walk out without paying. What, if anything, would you do?

2. 'What do you think about the State of Utah upholding the death penalty for certain murder-crimes?'