A Response to the Anonymous Comment

“Doesn’t God teach us to forgive? Can we please move on and stop ruining this man’s life?”

Yes. God teaches us to forgive.

But forgiveness doesn’t mean pretending something didn't happen. It doesn’t mean forgetting. It doesn’t mean protecting someone from the consequences of their own choices. And it certainly does not mean that the person who was hurt is required to remain silent so that the person who caused the harm can maintain a favorable public image.

If we are going to bring God into this conversation, then let's look at the whole picture - not just the parts that are convenient.

• Doesn't God also teach us to tell the truth?

• Doesn't Scripture warn against bearing false witness?

• Doesn't it teach humility rather than pride?

• Doesn't it teach us to take responsibility for our actions?

• Doesn't it warn against deception and hypocrisy?

• Doesn't it teach us to treat other people with love rather than using, controlling, humiliating, or manipulating them?

• Doesn't it teach us to care about how our actions affect others?

• And doesn't genuine repentance involve more than simply saying that we have changed?

Forgiveness is about releasing hatred and vengeance. Accountability is about acknowledging what happened.

Those are not the same thing.

I can forgive someone and still remember what happened. I can forgive someone and still refuse to trust them. I can forgive someone and still tell the truth about my experience. I can forgive someone and still believe that other people deserve to know documented facts before deciding for themselves who they are dealing with.

And I can forgive someone without pretending that everyone who was hurt by that person should simply “move on.”

I am not responsible for ruining Jeffrey Rush's life. I did not create his history. I did not create his criminal record. I did not create the decisions he made. I did not create the consequences of those decisions. And I did not create the public story he has chosen to tell about himself today.

What I have done is create a place where information and documentation can be examined.

If Jeffrey has genuinely changed, then time, consistent behavior, honesty, accountability, and the way he treats people will demonstrate that far more convincingly than anything I could write here.

That is what I will watch. And if someone wants to forgive him, they have every right to do so. If someone wants to believe his testimony, they have every right to do that too.

But forgiveness does not require me-or anyone else-to erase the past.

Forgiveness and accountability can exist in the same room.

So yes.

I believe in forgiveness. I also believe in truth.

And I don't believe God requires us to choose between the two.

Have the Best Blessed day you deserve.

Dorothy Bruce

Author & Creator of Jeffrey W. Rush: The Truth 

Seeking truth. Because the truth deserves a record.