Communication

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Forgiving Milosevic
Elizabeth Kaeton

Slobodan Milosevic is dead. He died in his UN prison cell. An autopsy reportedly showed that he died of a heart attack, although mystery and intrigue have begun to surround his death.

We were talking about Milosevic in my last Confirmation Class just the other week. We were having a conversation which kids of that age love to discuss: Good and Evil. Actually, we were talking about repentance and forgiveness (it is Lent, after all), and inevitably, the larger-than-life 'Evil Men of History' find their way into our comfortable room in the plush suburb of the Chathams, disturbing the darkest places of our souls.

Hitler is usually first to arrive, with Sadaam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden on either side. They are joined by Jim Jones, forever linked in their young minds with the poisoned grape Kool Aid he used to kill his follower, many of them young children, in the 'Jonestown Massacre'. Perhaps because of the religious link, David Koresh of Waco, Texas also is a frequent visitor.

The more dedicated history fans will remember Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge. I tell them the stories I was privileged to hear from the Liberian refugees who were my parishioners when I was priest at St. Barnabas and House of Prayer Episcopal Church in Newark, NJ. I remind them of the Rwandan genocide, the horrors of Apartheid in South Africa, the present wars in the Cote d'Ivoire, and the genocide in Dufar in the Sudan.

While there is never any paucity of examples of evil in the world, somehow, it is Milosevic who captures their attention and imagination. I suspect that he is the newest incarnation of Hitler, which is, for them, another name for Satan. One of my students mused, "You could tell Hitler was evil, just by looking at him and listening to him. But, Milosevic . . . . Well, he could be somebody's grandfather!"

Indeed, I respond, he is. I suspect it's that grandfatherly look, matched with the pale white skin, the clear blue eyes, and thin white hair that is so disarming. He always looked uncomfortable in those frumpy business suits, as if he'd much rather be in a flannel shirt and baggy pants, playing a game of croquet in the back yard with the grandkids. The reality is that he died just as the four-year trial was concluding which charged the former Yugoslavian leader with heinous crimes against humanity and genocide, earning him the epithet, "The Butcher of the Balkans."

The question is asked. It always is: "If we are truly sorry and we repent, God forgives all our sins, right? But, will God forgive Milosovic? Has God forgiven Hitler?" I take a deep breath and say, with as much confidence as I can muster, "We are promised that, no matter how horrible the deed, if we truly repent and confess our sins, God will forgive us."

I hasten to add that there are many people in prisons, serving life sentences or who are on death row, who have already repented and have been forgiven by God. That will make no difference, however, to the judgment and punishment that has been determined by a judge and jury of their peers. There is the law of God and the law of the Land, and while both operate on the principle of justice and mercy, the ways of God are always a deep mystery to us.

The faces of these young kids hold expressions which reveal, in turn, their confusion, disbelief and absolute wonder. "So," someone asks, "you can die in the electric chair and still go to heaven?" "If you are truly sorry and have repented, yes." I respond. "That is what the Jesus tells us. This is what our faith teaches us about God."
Eyes grow large and widen as heads shake slowly in disbelief. Someone whistles softly, just under his breath. Bodies move and shift in their seats in discomfort. I can hear them asking themselves, "Who is this God, anyway?"

Indeed. That is the central question which is asked by the Season of Lent.

I respond, in part, that Christians see the face of God in the life and death of Jesus. I tell them that we deepen our understanding of God through a life of prayer. I believe that prayer is a conversation with God which is ongoing and not limited by time and place. Indeed, the conversations we have with God will continue when we pass from this life into the next. In the deepest place of my religious imagination, I see Milosevic's soul held lightly but firmly in the palm of God's hand and being faced, inescapably, with his own actions and their consequences.

I have come to understand that the problem of Evil is a problem comprehending Good. It is a problem with our understanding the mercy and justice of God. It is a problem appreciating the hard work of repentance and the perfect completeness of God's forgiveness. Ultimately, it is a problem grasping the power and mystery of the Resurrection and the promise of Life Eternal.

We who have faith believe that we have a Judge who has the capacity both to bring Milosevic to true justice and to restore what Milosevic damaged - if we truly believe in the Easter story. If we're willing to trust in God's ultimate triumph over Evil.

Slobodan Milosevic's soul is in the capable hands of the best and most effective of Judges now, and we can get on with Lent. Soon enough, we'll come to the end of this Season of Penitence. Soon enough, it will be time to live into one of the great challenges of our faith: Forgiveness.