Should God Forgive Derek Chauvin?
Is he even worthy of God’s forgiveness?
For the last year since George Floyd’s heinous murder, where his life was mercilessly strangled from his body by Derek Chauvin’s knee on his neck, I have been struggling with whether I think God should forgive Chauvin. Of course, I know this is not my judgment call to make, however, the massacre of Mr. Floyd was such a vile act of racial terrorism carried out against an innocent man, that it most certainly is a matter worthy of reflective analysis.
As I have contemplated this question, I have also asked myself if Chauvin even deserves God’s forgiveness. Does he deserve George Floyd’s family’s forgiveness (especially his daughter’s), or the Black community’s forgiveness?
While thinking through this, it also brought into question whether any of the people responsible for other acts of racial terrorism and police brutality deserve God’s forgiveness. Does the mass murderer of the Charleston Nine deserve to be forgiven? What about the murderers of Trayvon Martin, Emmet Till, and the woman responsible for getting him murdered? Do any of the police officers who killed Tamir Rice, Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown, Botham Jean, and the numerous other unarmed victims of police brutality deserve God’s forgiveness?
Are any of these people worthy of…
