[StBernard] From Rabbi Marc Gellman, author of the GodSquad column:

[Westley Annis]

Q: Would Joseph's brothers have asked for forgiveness if they were not about
to starve to death? -- R., Kenosha, Wis., via godsquadquestion at aol.com

A: Gandhi once famously remarked, "To a starving man, God is bread." His
point is that our spiritual horizons are often defined by our physical
circumstances. That may have been true of Joseph's brothers, but it's
definitely true for all of us after the Boston Marathon bombings. To me,
now, God is safety for my family and friends and nation.

However, there is a pressing theological question that links the story of
Joseph to the story of the bombings. Like Joseph's brothers, the Boston
bombers did not repent of their deeds. Joseph's brothers could not say a
word to him when he revealed himself to them (Gen. 45:3), and later, after
the death of their father, Jacob, when they feared Joseph's retribution for
selling him into slavery, they made up a story about how Jacob had asked
them to tell Joseph to forgive them (Gen. 50:15-21). This was hardly a
full-hearted apology on their part, but Joseph forgave them anyway.

The Joseph-like question for us now is, should we forgive the surviving
terrorist? His brother died in an unrepentant, suicidal shootout, so
forgiving him is moot. As for the surviving brother, we don't yet know if he
is repentant, but his behavior up until his capture doesn't argue for
contrition.

Christian readers often press me in emails, arguing in an abstract,
theoretical way that forgiveness is an absolute commandment from God. I
don't hear that command.

I believe forgiveness must be sought before it can be granted, but after
Boston, that question is certainly not theoretical any longer. I don't feel
one shred of compassion for that murderer and maimer of children and adults.
I don't believe that justice is revenge. I don't hear God calling me to
forgive a young man who had other bombs ready to kill other 8-year-old boys.

It's not only that I don't want to forgive him. I also truly don't
understand what it would mean to forgive him. But as always, I could be
wrong, or I could be right but excessively severe. Do you believe we should
forgive him now? What does it mean to you to forgive the Boston terrorist?