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Unpacking the Casey Anthony Case

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This post from pastor Chris Brauns provides some worthwhile thoughts in the wake of the Casey Anthony Case:

I didn’t follow the Casey Anthony case closely enough to offer any meaningful opinions about guilt or innocence.

But one of my goals with Unpacking Forgiveness was to consider situations when the wounds are deep and justice seems far away. When a case such as this is so much in the center of public awareness, it is critical that Christians interact responsibly with it and take the opportunity to point people to the Cross. To that end, I offer some basic principles regarding how we ought to respond.

  • Trust God for Justice – Romans 12:19 (quoting the OT) explicitly tells us that vengeance belongs to God. No one is getting away with anything. I take no pleasure in writing that there will be a Hell of a reckoning one way or another very soon. No appeals. No evidence hearings. No shenanigans. God who sees all perfectly will deal justly in the timing that it pleases Him. (By the way, this is one of the reasons why this discussion Frances Chan, Rob Bell, and Hell is so critical, see also Mike Wittmer’s excellent book).
  • Be confident that God loves little girls infinitely and eternally more than any of us. Again, justice will be served. [Update: I wrote this ambiguously – – I mean that God loves little girls more than we love little girls – – – not that God loves little girls more than, say, little boys.]
  • Take no revenge. Scripture repeatedly warns us against taking revenge, again see Romans 12:19 [Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)] . You may let yourself off the hook by saying, “There is no possibility of me taking revenge on Casey Anthony,” to which I would respond, “Don’t you think that some of the people writing about Casey Anthony are taking revenge? It would seem that some are trying to pay Casey Anthony back if no other way than through Tweets. Or is it just my imagination?”
  • Honor our court system. Some who watched the trial and believe that Casey Anthony was guilty may be tempted to be very cynical about our court system. Never the less, Romans 13:1-7 tells us to pay honor to our government recognizing that God is sovereign. Like Joseph, we can say that whatever harm may have been intended, God will work it together for good for his people (Genesis 45:5-7  , Romans 8:28). The government is only a tool in God’s sovereign hand, however mysterious it may seem that God allows injustice in the short run.
  • Point people to the Cross. Situations like this are the opportunity for Christians to point to a balanced view of forgiveness that stresses love, justice, and grace. Casey Anthony is not the only one who will stand before her Creator. We are all sinners, and we will all be there. If we don’t know Christ, then the wrath of God abides on us (John 3:36).
  • Examine yourself. If you find yourself feeling terribly ungracious towards Casey Anthony, then perhaps it is because you haven’t been thinking enough about God’s grace in your life. Indeed, this is what happened with the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:21-35. Do you get more energized about the sin or perceived sin of someone else or your own? Consider 2 Corinthians 13:5.
  • Don’t trivialize forgiveness and misrepresent it by saying silly things like, “We all need to forgive Casey Anthony. Christians have so often said cheap things about forgiveness in contexts like this. We need to point people to the Cross, not say something like, “We just all need to forgive Casey.” Lots more to say about this, but I won’t try and re-write my book in a post – – though you could take the forgiveness quiz to get some flavor of the discussion. The answers to the forgiveness question are here.

What else would you add?

 

Comments

  1. Thank you for those words of encouragement. All who wish that young woman harmshould read Matthew 5-7. We only know that someone put that child in a bag. Until that person seeks forgiveness they go through life with a millstone around their neck. I know that even that person is not beyond the reach of Christ. After all the condemned on the cross recievrd the gift of salvation.

  2. I appreciate your willingness to speak Truth (according to scripture)and not merely opinion. I have been, on occasion, fortunate enough (yikes) to have had the Lord show me specifically just what is in my own heart. Believe me, it wasn’t pretty. Thankfully, I repented quickly and am extremely grateful for His gracious and loving forgiveness.

    I think fewer people would hurl verbal abuse and curses about everyone involved in this case if people were shown just what they have in their own hearts — what they themselves are personally capable of (whether or not they have ever acted upon it). Our Lord said that if you’ve done it in your heart, you’re guilty. Plain and simple. How many of us can stand before Him in our own righteousness? No, not a single one. ALL have sinned and fallen short of His glory. It is only by faith in His sacrifice that we can stand before Him, clean in His sight.

    While we can know a tree by its fruit whether it be good or bad, it is not our place to make judgments of eternal consequence. I KNOW that the Judge of All the Earth will do right and there is no one who will escape His justice. He will raise up the righteous and cast down the wicked. It may not happen in this life or on this earth, but it will happen. He is good and does only right.

    • Thank You for your comments Cyndi. Appreciate your honesty. Also Very Appreciative of All of BlueLetterBible’s Many Times of Being Used for God’s Glory. Appreciate and Love your Godly perspective that lines up with God’s Word. Big Thumbs Up!

  3. I would be the first one to agree that my heart is as the scripture says, full of wickedness and I am eternally grateful for God’s forgiveness.However the scripture says,
    When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. (Prov. 29:2)
    I believe that the people are morning, that somebody needs to be held accountable for the death of a 2 year old little girl killed with duct tape around her head when her mom partied and told an elaborate lie. Finally,to add to this the scripture says, when wickedness goes unpunished, it increases worse (paraphrase, even the world has a saying that goes, when good men do nothing, evil increase.
    My desire is that Casey Anthony would experience the salvation of God, and not experience Hell – eternity is too long to pay for crimes in this life – but she should be punished….selah

    • I am going to assume that you are a sister of mine in the Purest of Bloodlines, that of Messiah, however your use of scripture to justify your position that Casey should be punished contradicts the spirit of Scripture. And frankly? I find your use of the word “Selah”, which scholars agree roughly means “stop and listen”, “pause, and think on that” and is similar in purpose to “Amen” which carries the meaning, “let it be so”, slightly disturbing. One thing I KNOW FOR CERTAIN: There is a God and we ain’t Him.

  4. We REALLY need to STOP speculating about the so-called evidence and accept the FACT that NO ONE, NOT ONE HUMAN BEING, knows Casey Anthony’s heart or what actually happened and for us to sit in judgement of her in ANY way is tantamount to our using OURSELVES AS A MEASURE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, which is exactly what lucifer did when he aspired to God’s Throne. Jesus Himself said that it would be His Words that would judge. What SHOULD be our response? We were given a NEW COMMANDMENT just prior to Jesus’ crucifixion. He said, “A new commandment I give unto thee, that you would love one another AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.” His love was sacrificial, unconditional, & composed ENTIRELY of forgiveness.

  5. This is a big tragedy for all involved… If Casey did it and she repents and gives her heart to the Lord, she will reunite with her daughter in heaven for everlasting happiness… oterwise she will not escape justice before God

    • LS, You said, “If Casey did it and she repents and gives her heart to the Lord, she will reunite with her daughter in heaven for everlasting happiness… oterwise she will not escape justice before God.” So my question to you: And if she DIDN’T do it?
      You didn’t even address that possiblility and I can’t help but wonder why.

  6. hello- we shoul not juge unless we know for sure that the crime was cometed by the person charged IS GUILTY AS CHARGED.

    • Katherine, with all due respect, you have probably never learned about the justice of God. God’s justice was what led Jesus to the cross…sin had to be atoned for, study the price Jesus paid, it is the same God who told Saul to wipe out the Amalakites is the same God who had Samuel hack King Agag to death, (1 Sam.15:32-33)is the same God who required that justice be served when in mercy Jesus (God)died on the cross,is the same God of yesterday, today and forever. He does not change.(1 Sam.15: 29 & Hebs 13:8)

      I believe this Western culture, if you are in the west, throws the word “judgemet” around loosely. If I know that you had been addicted to drugs and you got saved and I see you going to a drug dealers house often,I would more than likely be checking with you, because the Bible says to shun the very appearance of evil.(1 Th.5:22)

      Unfortunately, We justify our actions so many times with Jesus eating and drinking with sinners,David & Bathsheba, without reading the price David paid – FORGIVEN BUT PUNISHED but God- will guide us, when we need to eat and drink with sinners He will vindicate us.

      To many western minded Believers God’s judgement, hell, death (physical and eternal, His justice are topics of discomfort – messages such as sinners in the hand of an angry God are just over the top and unnecessary, but the whole Gospel must be preached, mercy & judgement, grace and truth, life & death death & justice – when we walk with God, we must accept Truth- which is all of His Word.

      Finally, when an infant dies and the mother goes off partying, telling an elaborate lie knowing fully well that the baby was missing, to say we do not know her heart and we should not judge her, is ludicrous. (Now you may think I have judged you, but I have not) I speak the truth in love, so that we will in all things grow up into HIM who is the head. Selah