JAMES Jeffrey, a former British Army soldier who served in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, writes on the Critic website that it is time to forgive Shamima Begum.
Begum, who ran away from her east London home at 15 to join the fighters of ISIS and was stripped of her British citizenship, has appealed to be allowed to return.
In an interview with Good Morning Britain from the detention camp in Syria where she now lives, the 22-year-old said: ‘I know it is very hard for them to forgive me, but I say from the bottom of my heart that I am so sorry if I ever offended anyone by coming here, if I ever offended anyone by the things I said.
‘For those who have even a drop of mercy and compassion and empathy in their hearts, I tell you from the bottom of my heart that I regret every, every decision I’ve made since I stepped into Syria and I will live with it for the rest of my life.’
Jeffrey says that Begum has a better grasp of the Christian principles upon which Western civilisation is supposedly founded, ‘without which life would descend into a never-ending cycle of recrimination and blood feuds’, than many of her critics.
Does ‘Christian forgiveness’ equal giving someone free pass from justice? Would this be advocating a sanctionless, anything-goes society? Does that reflect Christian ethics?
Feel free to discuss this or anything else on your mind.
