Is forgiveness possible in the Casey Anthony case?
Published July 10, 2011It has been a long road for the family of Casey Anthony, and as the “trial of the decade” finished last week with a stunning twist, I couldn’t help but wonder what it all means for the future of this family.
Casey Anthony during the closing arguments of her trial. Photo by Red Huber, Associated Press.
This case has captivated us as a nation, offering all the salaciousness of a soap opera with the constant, heart-wrenching reminder that this is real-life. Over the past three years, we watched as a family tried to hold themselves together while their world was falling apart. Now, as a nation expresses outrage at Casey’s sentence, I can’t help but wonder where her parents begin to find healing.
In what seemed to be another instance of Casey Anthony creating lies to divert attention from her own plight, her attorneys originally argued that she had been molested by both her father and her brother, which created an air of secrecy within the Anthony household. That secrecy, her attorney argued, was what made her able to conceal and lie about her own daughter’s death. That questionable story never gained traction, and the judge refused to let it be mentioned in closing arguments.
Casey Anthony is, at best, an admitted liar and thief. At worst, she is a monster who took her own daughter’s life and then was able to lie about, straight-faced and dry-eyed, while a nation searched, hoped and prayed for a better outcome. Forgiving Casey Anthony is going to be a long time coming, as a country that has become emotionally invested in this case now struggles with their own feelings about a verdict that seems to ring hollow.
My thoughts keep going back to her parents. George and Cindy Anthony have been in the unenviable position of trying to find justice for their granddaughter while still trying to support their daughter at some level. They themselves have become a lightning rod for controversy, although from my standpoint, they appear to be two loving grandparents who are thrown into a situation for which no one could ever be prepared. I think they’ve been judged harshly and unfairly; I also believe that there’s no way, in the court of public opinion, that they could have maneuvered these waters properly.
Whether or not they can forgive their own daughter is between them; she has given them a lengthy laundry list of lies and hurts to overcome. But there is also a lot more forgiveness that needs to happen in order for healing to take place. The Anthonys have been hunted, haunted and hurt by angry mobs in the name of “justice.” In the end, there is no real justice and there is no closure. The question now is not whether or not we can forgive George and Cindy Anthony; the question is whether or not George and Cindy Anthony can forgive the American public.
Blondie singing Forgive and Forget
Published July 5, 2011Hope everyone had a great 4th of July holiday celebration. Because of the holiday, we decided to get Tuesday started with a great song from Blondie, “Forgive and Forget.”
Forgiveness is – Loving her for the mom she was instead of who I expected her to be
Published July 1, 2011Watch Sharon Malm Read’s story about overcoming the loss of her alcoholic mom, losing her husband and healing herself of cancer through forgiveness.
(This is part of the Fetzer Institute’s Campaign for Love and Forgiveness.)
Forgiving the Dead Man Walking – Powerful story by Debbie Morris
Published June 29, 2011This is the story of Debbie Morris, author of “Forgiving the Dead Man Walking.” This is a powerful story illustrating that justice may not bring you comfort in what has happened, but forgiveness can.
Music Mondays – Miley Cyrus sings “Forgiveness and Love”
Published June 28, 2011Enjoy this power house performance of “Forgiveness and Love” by Miley Cyrus to start your week.
Extreme forgiveness: Pastor uses the ‘F’-word in sermon
Published June 23, 2011One of the hottest YouTube videos right now has nothing to do with cute baby kittens, talented kids or stupid people tricks. Instead, it’s a pastor who repeatedly uses “the F word” in a church sermon.
The unidentified pastor delivers a lively plea for his parishioners to say, “F You!” to those who have wronged them. Of course, the “F word” he’s referring to is “forgiveness.”
In the two months since the video was posted, it’s received almost half a million views, and has created controversy with those who think the pastor has gone too far. But it has definitely opened up the discussion on forgiveness – which is what the pastor intended to do in the first place!
Did he go too far? Decide for yourself- check out the video below!
Music Mondays: Taylor Swift, “Back to December”
Published June 20, 2011Asking for forgiveness from someone we’ve hurt is challenging, particularly when it’s someone who once loved and trusted us. After the dust has settled at the end of a relationship, we can often see how badly we handled it and wished we’d done things differently. In this song from Taylor Swift’s album, “Speak Now,” she tries to find a way to apologize to someone she treated badly.
She forgave the woman who threatened her life and found a happy ending
Published June 19, 2011As a 15-year-old exchange student living in Australia, Angela’s life was threatened by her host mother. Terrified, she fled the home and eventually returned safely to the U.S. However, the fear of that traumatic incident haunted her for years. Learn how her decision to forgive her host mother changed her life – and then resulted in a surprising twist to the story she never expected.
Music Mondays: “Forgive Me” by Donna Summer
Published June 13, 2011Starting the week after a fun-filled weekend can be a bit of a downer. So instead of bombarding you with more information, we’ve launched “Music Mondays.” Every Monday morning, we’ll give you a song relating to forgiveness to get help you ease into the week.
Today we’re featuring power house Donna Summer singing “Forgive Me,” which brought home a Grammy Award for Best Inspirational Performance.
Have a great day!
For Anthony Weiner, forgiveness is probably the easy part
Published June 9, 2011Most of the news coverage for the past few days has been about Anthony Weiner, the unfortunately named Congressman with what could be, at best, termed as “poor judgment.” He has become the focal point of everything from news broadcasts to late-night comedy monologues. (Perhaps the only person who isn’t scoffing at Weiner right now is Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is thanking his lucky stars that Weiner took the heat and the spotlight off of the former Governator’s own “poor judgment.”)
Will we forgive Anthony Weiner?
Eventually, this scandal – like those have preceded it and those that will follow – will die down, and Weiner will take his place in history as one of the most ready-made punchlines of any political sex scandal. Ever. So even though the smoke will clear and lives will go on, does that mean that America will forgive Weiner?
Granted, Weiner’s lies, defensiveness and arrogance make forgiveness more difficult. It’s much easier to offer someone forgiveness when they are contrite and remorseful, neither of which are words anyone is using right now to describe Weiner. But forgiveness isn’t dependent upon the other person needing or even wanting our forgiveness, so what’s more significant than him asking forgiveness is how the public feels about him in the future.
Even if Weiner does eventually find the forgiveness of the American public, getting them to forget is another matter entirely. As is often the case, forgiveness may be the easy part for Weiner; you can get someone to understand or overlook your behavior, but the fact is that it will be remembered.
In my opinion, that’s the lesson that all of us can take away from this. Maybe we aren’t running around sexting photos of our privates to strangers, but we’re disappointing or deceiving those we care about in other ways. If – or, more likely, when – that comes to light, we may be able to get their forgiveness. But what we will want even more is for them to forget, and the fact is, that’s a much harder feat to accomplish. And it’s something that I suspect Anthony Weiner will be painfully aware of for the rest of his life.
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