QUARANTINE LIFE: PARDON?

I’m guessing there are many Christians who gratefully sing “I am a friend of God”, who are furious about 45 using his authority to pardon his friends all willy nilly—some friends whose crimes are so heinous and indefensible, that there was no other way for them to be redeemed. It’s an interesting conundrum for mercy- loving, grace-needing people, considering that the sweeping, irreversible action of someone who was given authority to blot out transgressions, is kind of our shtick. 

45, however, is not God. What does it say when your pardon comes from someone whose hands aren’t exactly clean? What does it say when your pardon is a deliberate act of cruelty?

How mad should people be, though? It may appear that criminals are getting away with murder, but a pardon doesn’t erase guilt. It doesn’t separate the guilty from the voice of their own conscience. Maybe those who were pardoned won’t be comfortable with their lives being on front street again. Maybe they just wanted to lay low; let things blow over; put their pasts behind them and start anew. Pardons merely thrust them back into an angry spotlight powered by social media— the raging antithesis of The Sea of Forgetfulness. 

Now, as a result of their pardons, we all know their names as well as the extent of their crimes. The focus on their loved ones will surely bring stress. 

There are a lot of angry, bewildered people from bereaved family members, to prosecuting attorneys, to journalists, to curious google users, who are feverishly digging up and posting every shameful detail and receipt to argue why the pardoned should rot in jail. Many are also arguing why others, for whom justice was not served, deserve the favor instead. Every time the Innocence Project prevails in proving a long-incarcerated person’s case, we see just how broken, unfair, skewed, racist, and corrupt our justice system can be.

Can a pardon truly be enjoyed under current circumstances? Is it really the kind of redemption anyone should envy, considering there’s no forgetting, and perhaps no forgiving from the persons who were actually wronged? With so much time on their hands as a result of the pandemic, who has decided to make it their business that there will be no gloating, relief, or rest for the pardoned? Who’s waiting and watching for them to make even the slightest wrong move? Who’s itching to haul them into court on state charges? Who’s going to tell the pardoned that they’re still felons who are facing possible subpoenas or civil suits? Are the pardoned truly free?

Maybe the anger and/or celebration is a bit unwarranted and premature. The pardons may be more trouble than they’re worth.