Opinion of this pastor (see details)?

[RIP Robert H Bork]

He houses a child killer.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090318/ap_on_re_us/child_killer_pastor

[Alcon]

He served his term.  He has to be housed somewhere.  Would you prefer he live on his own, without religious guidance?  Given that dichotomy, I approve.  Doesn't mean that I don't think the pastor is overly sympathetic.

Also, "satisfactory" at what?

[RIP Robert H Bork]

"Satisfactory" means a positive opinion, but not as much as "Great". It means OK, somewhere in between great and neutral.

[dead0man]

Where do you think the child killer should go?

[Alcon]

"Satisfactory" means a positive opinion, but not as much as "Great". It means OK, somewhere in between great and neutral.

I understand what "satisfactory" means, haha.  It just seems like a weird way of describing the morality of an act.  It's like a marketing survey.  What do you think of the ethicality of Rev. Pickney's decision?  Somewhat satisfied, all right.  And now, how about your Verizon™ phone service...?

And if we're describing the person, we're trying to judge if he's a "satisfactory" human being based on a context-free news article that doesn't interview the guy?  Maybe this is the worst mistake of his life.  You haven't indicated why; you haven't even answered where else he'd go ("back to jail" is a non-answer and is not always just, anyway.)  But even if it were, that defines him?  People are not the grand sum of the keyhole images through which we see their lives.

I'm sorry.  I feel for these people.  I genuinely do.  But it is NIMBYism.  If I had kids, I'd be utterly terrified.  But they have no more right to not be utterly terrified than anyone else with kids.  And the guy has to be somewhere in society, if he has any hope for redemption.  Hopefully, there is a God who will make this whole unfortunate matter Just.  But, failing that, I see no superior option.  That considered, maybe we should all turn to Matthew 7:1-6.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I voted "Ugh" and appear to be the only one who voted.

[Alcon]

I voted "Ugh" and appear to be the only one who voted.

And now for the fun part:  Why do you hold this belief?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

He brought a child killer into this town. Of cours they aren't going to like him.

[Alcon]

He brought a child killer into this town. Of cours they aren't going to like him.

You're committing a logical fallacy.  You can find as many flaws in A as you want.  But simply dismissing A does not mean you do not have to evaluate B for potentially being even worse.  You have to prove that B>A, too.

In this case, A is having this guy in a pastoral home in a small town.  What is the B that is so superior to A that A justifies an "ugh" vote for this guy's life?  What is the option that is superior at all?

The predictability of the town's emotional response is non-point (beyond whatever ethical "value" you assign the emotional turmoil on the locals -- but I don't see how that's not there with B, too.)

[John Dibble]

I have to agree with Alcon - where else is this guy going to go? He's got to live somewhere.

As far as how I view the priest, well, he seems to be following that whole "forgiveness" creed that Christians are supposed to be big on, so he's probably not a hypocrite. Reading a few more articles on this suggests that:

"Pinckney stands by his position of forgiveness and says that too many people don’t understand how Christ can change a person, and offer renewal and forgiveness." (supposedly the killer found Jesus in 1993)

Here's another article:

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Pastor+tells+why+he+took+in+killer&articleId=176f2193-7b7b-47b6-a741-1fbeb06c229b

Some important details:

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So he's taking more precautions than the law requires just in case.

I'm going to vote "Great" since this pastor actually seems to practice what his religion preaches but is also being smart about it.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

As far as how I view the priest

He's not a priest.

[John Dibble]

As far as how I view the priest

He's not a priest.

Semantics. The job description is largely the same - they preach to their flock.

It speaks volumes of your own opinion on this issue that this is all you can muster against my own argument. So, Mr. Claims-to-be-Christian, why is it that you think "Ugh" of this pastor for acting in a forgiving manner? That's what Christians are supposed to do, right?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

And the rest of the people in the town have to put up with it. That's not fair.

[John Dibble]

And the rest of the people in the town have to put up with it. That's not fair.

Again, where else do you propose he live? You have consistently failed to answer this question. People somewhere are going to have to deal with him living close to them, what makes it worse in this town than in any other?


Heck, let me use your exact same logic in a situation where you'd be all up in arms. I want to build a strip club in their town. The people don't want me to but I'm going to do it anyways. They'll just have to put up with it. That's not fair.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Put in my neighborhood, I wouldn't care. Urbanites are used to having such people around. This town shouldn't.

[John Dibble]

Put in my neighborhood, I wouldn't care. Urbanites are used to having such people around. This town shouldn't.

Yeah, let's put him in your neighborhood with less restrictions and nobody to help him stay on the right track. That's the right thing to do because nobody will be bothered by it.

By the way, you're ugly and annoying. Your presence bothers your neighbors. Why should they have to put up with it. That's not fair.

[Alcon]

Put in my neighborhood, I wouldn't care. Urbanites are used to having such people around. This town shouldn't.

If you put so much stock into people's reactions when determining the ethics of being somewhere, why are you still posting here?