NEW SMYRNA BEACH — Chick-fil-A restaurant founder S. Truett Cathy has decided not to press charges against two girls who caused $30,000 worth of damage to his home.
Cathy is a great man and I think he is doing right.
Matt 5:
[42] Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
[43] Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
[44] But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
[45] That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
[46] For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
Depends. If these girls chose his house because of a vendetta against him personally, then, yes, he is doing right.
If it was anything else, then the girls are public menace and need some stripes on their backs.
Besides, $300,000 to Cathy is probably like 2 or 3K to most of us, and I would be surprised if he didn't have insurance to boot. I don't consider the act magnanimous.
If you haven't noticed, he isn't God, and when these girls do a more serious crime possibly hurting someone we'll see if the courts have the same grace and mercy. When they could have learned a serious lesson this time around. Apparently there are a lot of people on this board who do not believe in a court of law and punishment and personal responsibility for crimes.
Anytime we can work things out without going through the courts we have succeeded. There is no guarantee that going through the courts will ensure such behavior is put to an end. Currently we have two less children with criminal records who have an opportunity to make things right and see the error of their ways. And it is quite biblical to avoid the court system to find resolution. Praise God for this move and it wouldn't hurt for us to keep these youths in prayer for a time.
Gal 6:2
Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
I have spoken personally to the man, and met some of the kids he has taught in Sunday School (as of 3 years ago, he still taught 7th grade boys(!) even though he was in his 80's).
I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt, instead of castigating him based on incomplete information. We should all take care before jumping the gun...we don't know the whole story, and this man over the years (yes, I know, no one's perfect) has proven to be ethical and Christlike in many of his dealings.
I see your point.
And I believe in prosecuting Criminals as much as anyone,
but there have been times where Grace and Mercy has changed peoples lives where the law can't...
As a matter of fact, the law can NEVER change a person's heart.
Only Grace can.
Maybe Mr. Cathy knows more about the situation than we do.
And because of this he is more concerned about their hearts and eternity than getting revenge.
If I didn't believe Grace was better than Law I wouldn't be in the business I am in...
If I didn't believe Grace and Mercy could change people's hearts, I would throw in the towel... God knows that is the only thing rewarding about being a Pastor... seeing lives changed for the better.
I am not in the place to judge this... Mr. Cathy is..
If I were him, I would probably press charges... knowing me.
but I am not him.
Speaking for myself and my teen years, years in college and time in the service, if folks had not used other forms to teach me and get me to do right, rather than the court, I believe I could have had a much different life. I might even had been called number such and such.
No, I think he is doing the correct thing. If there is a next time, we shall see.
It was probably the right decision for him to make.
It would have been just as right to demand restitution or incarceration.
Trusting their parents to keep them from watching TV is a stretch.
If the parents were all that responsible, they would have offered to pay for the damages in the first place.
So you think christians have no responsibilty, and no consequences?
Or does God allow christians to suffer the consecquences of their own making? We see it all the time.
The law can do what it is supose to do, punish criminals.