Feet of Clay?

The news about George Alexander, the Chair of the NYS State Parole Commissioners resigning over a laptop allegedly taken from his office over a year ago has finally settled down. The opinions I have heard are that he pushed too hard for reform. Many other people have sadly added him to the long list of politicos who feel they are above the law. I am troubled by both because they assume the worst. The first group are ready to believe there is a conspiracy, the second group that no one in politics is honest. Is there no middle ground?

I personally go back to my faith. I believe that we are all sinners, and that we cannot always avoid doing the wrong thing. I have a strong sense of judgmentalism, specially for myself. But how can I decide which errors of judgement are unforgivable? I sit in groups with child molesters, embezzlers, murderers, muggers, and rapists. How can I be angry at George A. (accused but not convicted of stealing a used laptop, value $500) when I am sitting next to and befriending David B. who molested a church member's 12 year old daughter? And I refuse to tell my own crimes in this public space. What does my faith say to me?

As a Christian, I believe that we are all equally sinful, that one sin is no more grievous than another in God's eyes. And I believe that God has forgiven us all equally. That does not mean there need not be punishment, atonement, vigilance, isolation, whatever. It means that the sinner still has value to add to God's creation and to the community and to me. That faith has led me to sit and befriend the men I visit, to do what I can to assist them to get parole, to find a place back among us and to help them return to "outside life."

It has led me to look at George A.'s alleged theft and subsequent resignation the way a farmer looks at an orchard destroyed by hail, a vineyard or potato field ruined by nematodes: I cry for the loss of the crop; I fret about how I will manage without the crop; I sigh for the loss of all the potential benefit. But I don't get angry, certainly not at George.