Real Christians

PHOTO: Former hostages Norman Kember (L), James Loney (C) and Harmeet Singh Sooden listen to a question during news conference in central London December 8, 2006. The British man, Kember, and two Canadians freed from captivity in Iraq said on Friday they forgave their captors and had not decided whether to testify at the trial of the men accused of the kidnap. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez (BRITAIN)

Report from The Independent Online Edition:

Freed Iraq hostage Norman Kember and two other men held with him today announced that they "unconditionally" forgave their captors and wished them no "retribution".

……Mr Kember said the only way he would testify would be to plead for mercy. He told the press conference: "If it was necessary to take part in a trial to plead for clemency and that was the only way we could come to it, then we would take part, but that would be the only reason to take part." Neither he or his fellow hostages have seen photographs gathered as evidence against their captors although they know they exist.

……….Asked if he had been naive to go into the heart of a war zone, Mr Kember replied: "Yes we were naive if Jesus was naive, if Martin Luther King was naive, if Gandhi was naive." The former hostages said their murdered colleague, Mr Fox, was not far from their thoughts but they could not speak for his family as to whether they agreed with their position against giving evidence. Suggesting that Mr Fox would have approved, Mr Loney said: "Tom was very clear about his opposition to the death penalty. "He signed a statement saying that if he was to be murdered that he would not want his murder to be revenged with the death penalty." Mr Kember praised him as "the most compassionate of the four of us". He said: "From time to time we would hear explosions, obviously a bomb had been let off in Baghdad. Tom would immediately pray for both the victims and the perpetrator."

I have to admit, they are way better persons than I am. I would be very angry with someone who had put me through such hell. However, I recognize on an intellectual and spiritual level, that what they are doing IS in the best interests of the entire human race. It is a position of forgiveness that is hard to achieve, even harder to maintain, but they did it both in words and in example.

Quote of the Day: “Well, it was a grim 118 days. We suffered from the deprival of our freedom, and we were given very little food. We were in a constant state of fear and anxiety about what was going to happen to us. But, yes, it was an awful experience, but we really desire that we want good to come out of this. And we are very, very concerned that the death penalty is on the table for these men. They could face execution, and that would be the worst possible outcome for us. We -- you know, Bishop Tutu has this phrase, you know: there’s no future without forgiveness. And for us, forgiveness opens up possibilities. It opens up the future, that something different can happen than what happened in the past. And what happened in the past was -- it was awful. And Tom was killed in that. And we want something different. We don't want more people to be killed. We want the possibility of restoration and a justice that is about healing the relationships that have been broken.” – James Loney, one of the Christian Peacemakers Team members kidnapped in Iraq. For the rest of the interview, go to Democracy Now!