Casey Anthony and Final Judgment

[JRRTFAN]

Since yesterday’s verdict many people have tried to overcome their disappointment in the not guilty verdicts by stating, “Some day she’ll face God and have to answer for what she’s done.” or a similiar statement.

So my question is, assuming that she has a conversion experience along the lines of St. Paul, and admits to a Priest in confession and then to the world, that she killed her daughter, what happens to her on judgment day? What might a Priest give her as penance?

BTW, I have no idea what religion, if any, she is, so for the sake of these questions just assume she’s Catholic.

Peace, g.

The fact of the matter is that whatever Casey Anthony did or didn’t do, it is substantively no different that the millions of abortions since Roe v Wade. Think of it. Chid aborted, put in a plastic refuse bag and thrown in garbage. The only difference is, others culpably help, and theres a 25 or so month difference in the age of the victim.

 

[Jaypeeto4]

**The fact of the matter is that whatever Casey Anthony did or didn’t do, it is substantively no different that the millions of abortions since Roe v Wade. Think of it. Chid aborted, put in a plastic refuse bag and thrown in garbage. The only difference is, others culpably help, and theres a 25 or so month difference in the age of the victim. **

That’s very true.

 

[catmom50]

I’m not judging this woman’s soul. I have many sins to attone for but I sure as heck don’t want to see this murderess make hundreds of thousands or millions off of interviews and books. I also would not desire to think of her artying it up in her licentious manner to the adoration of the plebian masses. It’s sickening.

Dear Ringil,
you make very valid points. I would not want to see that either.
If she actually did that horrific thing, and got acquitted,
she should repent and spend the rest of her life in prayer and penance,
not partying it up or “selling her story” to make a quick buck.

Ringil,
You did make valid points. Personally, I think she had a part in what happened to little Caylee.
But I was just making a generalization when I was talking about judging… I wasn’t saying that you were judging. Sorry you thought otherwise.
I don’t want to see her make lots of money off a great tragedy of a little girl that is gone way before her time. And yes, it is sickening.

 

[lisahiku]

she should not make ONE dime for her crime. And she was gound guilty of the crime of lying to police. No one has yet to say how caylee’ s body was transported to the woods.

 

[sojo]

Having had my unfortunate experience in dealing with children who are emotionally disturbed including reactive attachment disorder, borderline personality disorder, OCD, early childhood bipolar and other disorders, many resulting from severe trauma (usually both physical and sexual) at a very young age… and seeing the symptoms in Casey’s personality that were confirmed by many psychiatrists and psychologists, I would say there is a very good chance that Casey Anthony would not be held responsible at all for her actions as she exhibits all the symptoms of a narcissism with borderline personality disorder and very probably a dissociative personality disorder.

It is a sad state of affairs, believe me. I had a foster daughter with absolutely no conscience who wanted to kill us, herself and any human being. Inside my head, I understood she was severely mentally ill by no fault of her own - just a little girl. But it was hard not to hate her and wish her to receive “justice” for the evil she perpetrated. But she just did not, could not accept that anyone in the universe other than herself was of any consequence. She lived in a universe of one, and anyone who got in the way of her getting a drink or a bite to eat for one second deserved to be eliminated. Her ability to put on an act for the public, to look like a little angel to others while acting like a demon at home… it was eery.

What gets me is that her family had to know from an early age that something was very, very wrong with Casey. These type of kids raise the hairs on the back of your neck. They can fool some people some of the time, but to live with and love someone 24/7 and not realize there’s something wrong… that tells me something about the parents. A nurse and a policeman - both educated people who deal with the mentally ill all the time in their line of work. But somehow, their own daughter’s extreme, bizarre behavior seems to have escaped them? I don’t buy it. Not with all my experience with these issues.

Hopefully, all the attention that is going to be paid to this woman in light of her going free will shed more light on this subject for many. But whether she is forgiven by God or not - that’s not in my job description, thank goodness. God can and may forgive anyone for anything. It is not my job to question his eternal wisdom.

 

[Ruth_Catherine]

It is understandable that some, like a poster above,
would WISH Casey Anthony “misfortune in this life.”
It is understandable, BUT BE CAREFUL WISHING THAT on her.
If you DO, then God WILL bring “misfortune in this life” on YOU
for YOUR sins. And HE may regard YOUR sins
much more seriously than YOU do. You might get a very frightening surprise.
Be careful. I used to be one who advocated throwing the book at people. I didn’t take
seriously enough Christ’s warning that “by the standard by which YOU judge,
YOU YOURSELF will be judged.” He meant that, and it is SCARY.
And that warning of his applies to us regular folk, and to juries, and to prosecutors, and to defense attorneys, and even to judges “who are just doing their jobs.” NO ONE is exempt. NO merciless person will be shown mercy, EVEN IF he or she is just doing their job.
Can Casey be forgiven? Murdering your baby child is a particularly horrific act.
Abortion is ALSO the murdering of your baby child.
Do you “wish misfortune in this life” on women who have had abortions?
If not, why not?
But King Manasseh of Judah not only corrupted the whole nation, but he also murdered THOUSANDS of innocent people, including his OWN toddler children by sacrificing them in fire to demon gods. God NOT ONLY FORGAVE THIS BRUTALLY WICKED MAN, but God ALSO restored Manasseh to his Throne as King of Israel. WOW.
I have to admit, God’s ways confuse the daylights out of me.
A MONSTER like Manasseh can be forgiven and even restored to the throne,
while Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead by God for one measley lie.
A monster like Manasseh can be forgiven, while poor hapless Uzzah was struck dead
by God for merely touching the Ark of the Covenant out of the noble desire to keep that
holy object from falling to the ground.
God’s ways are not our ways… we may THINK they are, but they AREN’T.

That is so well said. Thank you.

 

[Ruth_Catherine]

Read the story of St Maria Goretti–whose feast was celebrated yesterday, July 6, one day after the Casey Maria Anthony verdict–and Alessandro Serenelli.

Thank you for that story. It is such an inspiration and helps us to remember we are always to forgive.

 

[lisahiku]

So everyone should

just forgive all the murderers and not have a justice system?

guess there is no purgatory either.

 

[kelvinf]

So everyone should

just forgive all the murderers and not have a justice system?

guess there is no purgatory either.

Governments have different institutions they use to govern…

We Christians have the teachings of Jesus Christ and the lives of the Saints to guide us on our journey. The teachings of Jesus Christ, the Lord’s prayer… are unequivocal when it comes to forgiveness.

 

[lisahiku]

???
We HAVE to follow the law. Should I go 80 miles an hour down a 30 zone and then ask for forgiveness instead of punishment? I don’t think the cop would see it that way.

One more thing the bible is ok with the death penalty.

 

[kelvinf]

???
We HAVE to follow the law. Should I go 80 miles an hour down a 30 zone and then ask for forgiveness instead of punishment? I don’t think the cop would see it that way.

Our heavenly Father is the supreme just Judge. On earth, we have 2 authorities. The Church and the State.

The Church is the moral authority of all who believe in Jesus Christ. The Church teaches in the name of Jesus Christ. The Church sets rules and regulations to guide believers.

State authorities are secular authorities. They govern all their citizens–believers/non-believers according to their own norms. They choose to punish in order to ensure law and order amongst their diverse folks.

Does the Church punish? NO! She doesn’t! That’s the job of our just Judge–the Father in heaven. Our heavenly Father has his own ways of doing business. He often gives us time to repent and turn away from our sins and return to him. (Jesus Sirach 17:19-21, 24-26; Ezekiel 18:23, Ezekiel 33:11-16.)

(A poster here already mentioned someone like King Manasseh of Judah. There are other examples: Saint Paul, Saint Mary of Egypt…). These were sinners who repented and returned to the Lord.

Sometimes, he chooses to punish some immediately on earth (E.g Ananias and Sapphira mentioned above).

His thoughts are not our thoughts and his ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9).

We know for sure that his arms are always open to welcome us back home. We also know for sure from what his Son taught us that we must forgive others in order to merit the Father’s forgiveness. Again, it’s very clear!

One more thing the bible is ok with the death penalty.

According to your own interpretation. Let’s not even go there.

 

[Faithdancer]

I really do feel bad for her. She and her daughter Caylee have been through so much. I think if Casey really did kill her daughter, it is likely that Caylee will eventually forgive her mother, because on the other side, she will better understand what her mother was going through, and what emotions may have caused her to murder her.

I am not a mother, but I think a mother’s connection to her child is very strong, even if tragically she feels she must murder her child to be happy. There is still a strong bond which will always exist.

I know in my heart that at some time, beyond this world, Caylee and Casey will be together again, happy together as mother and daughter. Living in a time and a place far beyond this world, I think they will laugh at this whole affair together, putting it in the past. I know all will be well for Caylee and Casey. They are two beautiful people.

Beautifully said, in the true spirit of Christ…

 

[lisahiku]

I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Casey Anthony is a sociopath.
Unless she repents (VERY few sociopaths do) she will not get to heaven.

 

[lisahiku]

According to your own interpretation. Let’s not even go there.

MY interpretation…no the BIBLE says one must pay with their own life.

ONe more thing…the Church DOES punish. Ever heard of excommunication?

 

[NetStar]

I was blown away with the Casey Anthony verdict. With that said, I must admit I was one of the millions of people who said, “She will answer to God.”

As time has passed, I can only pray for her child and yes even Casey. (it took some doing, I’ll admit.) but like someone else said on here, are we going to convict the millions of women who have had aborations? That is killing a child also.

Do I wish Casey ill in her life? No. (again I’ll admit, that I did wish that at one time, for her to be miserable.) Do I now? No.

Do I need to pray for her and her family? Yes.

As a Catholic I need to pray for them. Do I get to stand in judgement of her? Nope.

Being Angry, being mad at the verdict, when I was sure she did murder her daughter was eating me up. And yet what did I gain out of that? It brought me down as a Christian! How can I ask God for help and to love me, when I wasn’t doing as God has said? So slowly, I came to my senses and had to let it go and yes even pray for someone who might have done that to their own child.

My relaonship with God is bigger than Casey Anthony, I can’t let people like Casey Anthony put me in a “slump” for a lack of a better word, with God. If I want to walk with God, I have to be willing to forgive and pray for others. If I don’t God won’t forgive me.

 

[lisahiku]

i think there is a mixture of the legal system and God’s justice system.

The legal system of the USA did NOT find Casey guilty of murder.

God’s justice system may have a different verdict for her. Hopefully, anyway.

 

[kelvinf]

According to your own interpretation. Let’s not even go there.

MY interpretation…no the BIBLE says one must pay with their own life.

What does that mean? That if you drive above 30 in a 30 zone you would pay with your life?

ONe more thing…the Church DOES punish. Ever heard of excommunication?

Punishment–suffering, pain, or loss that serves as retribution. Nopes, the Church does NOT punish! Again, if you drive above 30 in a 30 zone would the Church punish you?

Excommunication is a not a punishment per se. “It has a medicinal and pastoral function–to correct those who are obstinate in error, and to protect others from them.” The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries

 

[kelvinf]

I highly recommend this powerful mediation on today’s first reading for all those having issues with forgiving others. It is from Catholic Matters:

APPLICATION: Elijah was a great prophet, a great defender of the true faith in Israel, where a defense was needed—but, being of a fiery, violent nature, he was evidently not quite satisfied with the help God was giving him. He wanted fire and brimstone poured abundantly on all God’s enemies, but God did not always see things as Elijah did. When running away in despair, or with the hope of collecting reinforcements in the form of more active cooperation (according to his ideas), on the part of God, he was taught a lesson and, to his credit, he learned it.

Many of us have at least a little of the spirit of the pre-Horeb Elijah in us. When we see wickedness prosper and open opponents of God continuing to live and to thrive, we begin to wish God would step in and show his power by exterminating them, in a way that would prevent others from daring to imitate them. An earthquake could so easily swallow up the leaders of atheistic policy when they all meet in Moscow; and what a blessing for the world and for the true religion We wonder, perhaps, why God doesn’t show his power and his presence in some such way to those who deny his existence.

But, as Christians, we should know better. We have the great advantage (which Elijah lacked) of Christ’s teaching on God’s mercy. God is the father, and the loving father, of the sinner as well as of the saint. He does not wish the death of the sinner, but that he should be converted and live. He gives his grace to all men; he lets his sun shine on the sinners and the just. He has infinite patience and is ready, up to the last moment, to welcome back the greatest sinner who turns to him. How many saints are in heaven today, who would have been cut down in their sins, if God acted as Elijah and some other devout lovers of God would have him act?

No, the lesson for each one of us today is that God is especially a God of mercy in his dealings with us. He would have us deal mercifully with our fellowman who are not serving him or who, worse still, are even denying his existence. Tornadoes of blame and abuse, thundering condemnations and threats of fire and brimstone are not the means God uses to bring back his prodigal sons, and they are not the means he wants us, his friends, to use either.

God is to be found in “the tiny gentle breeze,” in the kind, charitable understanding word spoken out of a true brotherly heart. In the sinner God sees his child and still loves him. We too should see in the sinner our brother, and we should love him and wish him to reach the happy end God intends for him. A kindly word will do more to produce his conversion than torrents of abuse and condemnation. There are few of us who have not sinned and offended God during our adult years. How fortunate we were that God was not Elijah’s type of God while we were in our sins! He gave us a chance because he was a merciful, understanding God. Let us be merciful and understanding to our brothers who now are what we once were. Let us pray for them and ask God to continue to be merciful towards them. Let us help them kindly and charitably whenever we can. If we are instrumental in bringing back a prodigal son to his loving Father in heaven, we can rest assured that our Father will help us on our road back to him in heaven.

 

[lisahiku]

your post was quite overwhelming to say the least.

Just because there is forgiveness for a crime does NOT mean there will be zero punishment. That is my argument in a nutshell.

 

[kelvinf]

your post was quite overwhelming to say the least.

Just because there is forgiveness for a crime does NOT mean there will be zero punishment. That is my argument in a nutshell.

In a nutshell,

God has his own ways of dealing with us when we offend him!
Secular authorities have their own ways!
We Christians are called to act and react according to certain norms!