General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Is it possible to get redemption after committing a heinous crime...? [View all]Yo_Mama
(8,303 posts)According to the Christian faith, it is possible to get spiritual forgiveness with repentance, reform and acceptance of God's mercy. That changes generally your fate after death rather than in this life.
I don't know about other religions, but in a non-religious sense I think a person could change. If their beliefs change, they could change their definition of right and wrong. I think there is a tremendous amount of courage required to do that, because to do that would be accepting full responsibility and full guilt for what he has done. That would be a crushing burden to bear for anyone. It's far easier to go through what's left of his life maintaining that he had a good reason for killing that kid, isn't it?
I don't think he would ever be qualified to be a free man, though. First, it's hard for those making such a decision to know if he has really changed. Public safety has to be paramount. Second, I think public support for removing the death penalty is strongly dependent on real life terms for some crimes - people genuinely do fear that heinous offenders will get back out and destroy more lives, and it certainly has happened enough to make such a fear not wholly irrational.
But who knows? It would be nice to think that Tsarnaev could change enough to be imprisoned in a less severe environment while still preserving the safety of others with whom he could come in contact. And maybe that could allow him the opportunity to do something more productive with his life.